


In Between

by Stujet9rainshine



Series: We are Andersons After All [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Android Abolitionists, Android Gavin Reed, Autistic Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Canon-Typical Violence, Connor & RK800-60 & RK900 are Siblings, First Kiss, Gavin is an Police Android that is basically an EMT, Hospitals, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Human Tower Connor | RK800-60, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Love Confessions, M/M, Nines is an ER Trauma Nurse, Past Child Abuse, Pre-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Pre-Canon, RK800-60 goes by Conrad, Role Reversal, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death, The RK800s are Twins, Underground Deviants, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-08-27 23:08:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 58,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16711765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stujet9rainshine/pseuds/Stujet9rainshine
Summary: Nines had been working as an ER nurse in the trauma unit for around six years by the time 2035 rolled around. Now here he was having his whole life turned upside down by a singular android. A GV200 police android who acted as a glorified EMT to bridge a difficult gap between crime scenes and the ER.Nines never expected for the GV200 to catch feelings of the human variety or for himself to catch feelings of the romantic variety. But here they were, falling in love and finding out what it means to be deviant.





	1. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my giant Reverse!AU project! Please enjoy this work of Reed900 fluff and love!
> 
> Title Song: [Nightmare | Set It Off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS3q9H5g2WU)
> 
> I've also included a playlist with all the songs that are linked throughout the work.  
> Work playlist: [In Between Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/1294866954/playlist/1csknHrqTFIifewvziyxL9?si=bWksJ_C8QG-DPiJU8rCs_A)

Nines was a professional. He’d been working in the Emergency Room trauma unit for around six years. And those years had brought on a lot of change, a whole lot more than anyone ever anticipated. Given no one had really expected androids to take off as much as they did. Cyberlife Androids have actively changed the face of the medical industry forever. They created perfect machines to take away excess human error in the field. Some androids were programmed the do things as complicated as surgery, but most of them were made for much simpler tasks, like phlebotomy. Or the whole nurse package, but with an infallible bedside manner and state-of-the-art scanners.

Nines was a nurse, not a doctor, not an EMT so he almost exclusively dealt with the nurse androids. At first, he was skeptical. He didn’t want to be replaced, he’d worked too hard to get where he was. Not to mention, he wasn’t even sure they could work on his level. But the nurse androids were all very sweet, docile, and were a fantastic help. They really helped in taking care of the less than pleasant tasks, like changing bedpans. Patients were much more cooperative with things like changing and using the damn bedpans when it was an android helping them. Because patients don’t get as embarrassed around something they don’t consider human. Nines rarely, if ever, found himself complaining about the android help. He even found himself enjoying his work far more after they had been properly implemented.

Now in 2035, most of the android business had been settled out. There was a decent staff of both humans and androids and Nines found that sufficient. So, it was quite a shock when he heard about the rumors that the hospital was getting a police android to join their ranks. Well, not necessary a police android, more of an EMT with a Detroit Police Department uniform. The new android was supposed to be a semi-specialized, prototype model designed for working as a patrol officer to get injured parties to the ER as quickly as possible. Nines had dismissed the rumors. They sounded like complete bullshit and Connor would have told him if something like that was in the works. That being said Nines never expected to meet this new android he’d heard about.

Then all at once, that denial went straight out the window. Nines was walking down the corridor fiddling with some charts when he heard a loud ruckus. He looked up from his clipboard towards the entrance to the ER and his jaw fell open. There, slamming through the hallway, was an android in a Detroit Police Department uniform cradling a bloody body in his arms. The designation on his chest denoted his model, GV200.

The android glanced around and then spotted Nines and started to charge towards him.

_“What the_ **_hell_ ** _are you waiting for!?”_ The GV200 android screamed at Nines.

After a moment’s hesitation, Nines slammed into action. Grabbing the gurney closest to him and gesturing for the android to place the patient down. Which he did gently.

_What the fuck?_ Nines thought briefly then shook his head, no time for that. He refocused his attention at the bleeding man they were now wheeling down the hallway. Gunshot wounds, Nines noted. A brief exam had him finding the entrance but not the exit wounds. He needed to get the patient to surgery. He shouted out some commands and then the fun began. His team was on the gurney in a minute and they began his prep for emergency surgery.

The procedure was routine, as gunshot wounds were in Detroit. Though having a police android padding after them from a distance as they worked was unnerving. He didn’t have time to worry about with a patient that had pieces of metal lodged inside them. Nines decided he’d mention for the android to wait outside for all further operations. He scoffed, wondering if this was to be a reoccurring issue or just a strange one-time thing. One could never tell in this line of work. When every day brought something else crazy through those automated doors.

Nines finally decided to wash his hands of the whole thing as he left the operating room now that the patient was stable and resting. A job well done, but the urge to confront the android was leaking into his mind.

_One thing at a time, Anderson._ He thought harshly as he was making his way towards the break room. Hoping to grab a coffee before the next bloody operation.

“Richard Anderson, correct?” Came a crass voice from somewhere behind him.

Nines paused, rolling his eyes, he wasn’t necessarily in the mood for someone to prevent him from getting his coffee. But he forced a smile and turned around to greet whoever had spoken to him. Nines was only mildly surprised to notice the bright blue LED on the temple of the other. A once-over confirmed that it was the GV200 that had brought in the gunshot victim.

“How can I help you?” Nines asked politely, his tone flat.

“I’ve been assigned to help transport patients from crime scenes to the ER and I have been assigned to report directly to you. Since you are one of the head nurses in your area and your counterpart refused involvement,” The GV200 rattled off, looking like he had practiced this conversation before.

Great, Nines thought as he realized he was going to have to continuously deal with this strange android. Counterpart denied involvement, _huh?_ He was going to give Carol a piece of his mind for pushing this off on him.

“Fantastic,” Nines muttered, “My contact information should be available to you through the hospital’s network. Try to give me some warning before you barge in like that next time. Oh, and please stay out of the rooms while we are working,” Nines gave his own list of instructions. He was trying to end this conversation quickly.

“Affirmative,” GV200’s LED flashed yellow for a brief moment, “I have downloaded your contact information. I look forward to working with you and your team for the foreseeable future.” And with that, the GV200 gave a sloppy salute and turned on his heel and was heading down the hallway.

Nines had no idea what to think of any of this mess but decided he could worry about it later. He glanced down at his watch and wondered if he had time to still grab that coffee. He turned on his heel decided that he did. He let out a sigh, androids were just a thing that he had to deal with now, just as much as everyone else.


	2. 99 Red Balloons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple months pass without much incident, Nines and this new android are having to do a dance of getting used to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is just a pun, my dudes.
> 
> Title song: [Goldfinger- 99 Red Balloons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQWLfea7nOs)

The next several encounters they had together the GV200 had taken Nines’ advice and called in beforehand and gave a brief report. These calls came in about five minutes before he would arrive with a patient in tow. The android always took the time and effort to stabilize the victims. It did good work and Nines quickly began to appreciate its efforts, just like he had with many of the other androids.

This became surprisingly routine over the next month or so. Though, for an android the GV200 was unpredictable. It was clumsy and messy in both its body language and an oddly foul mouth. The GV200 also looked completely different than most androids. It was around five foot six, which is a good bit below the average male height. Though being next to Nines very much exaggerated that shortness, given that Nines was all of six foot three.

On top of all that, for some godforsaken reason, this android had a layer of scruff on his chin. He looked rugged and rumpled in its appearance. Nines could almost swear up and down that Cyberlife took every movie detective ever and then smashed them into this one android.

It was very clear that GV200 wasn’t like any other android Nines had had the pleasure of working with before. The GV200 presented Nines with a new set of challenges that he was more than happy to accept.

 Nines himself was a little surprised at his own change in heart, but who could blame him. The GV200 model was endearing and not hard on the eyes. Though they really hadn’t quite started to get along quite yet.

It was a Tuesday, almost two months after the GV200 had joined Nines’ team when Nines received an oddly frantic call from the android. Nines knew things were going to be rough when the android arrived.

To no one's surprise, it was a rough case. The patient needed emergency surgery, several stab wounds, and other bloody spots. Nines was about to take over the scrambling team when Carol beat him to the punch and was shouting out commands. Nines knew he didn’t need to be in the same operating room as Carol. Too many bodies in one room could be disastrous.

Now Nines was currently waiting in the hallway with the GV200. He turned to look at the scowling android, who was currently leaning against a wall. Nines looked the other and down and finally decided they needed to have a decent conversation. It’s been almost two months and they were still walking on eggshells, and Nines was man enough to admit it was his own doing.

“So, what happened?” Nines finally asked the silent android. GV200 looked up and pushed himself off the wall and crossed his arms.

“Red Ice deal gone bad, several stab wounds and multiple blunt force trauma injuries,” it rattled off, but almost looked disgusted with what he was staying. Nines sighed Red Ice was a major headache for him and every other ER personnel in the country. The shit was toxic, deadly, and made people violent. All the things Nines had to deal with after it all inevitably came to a head.

 _“I hate that shit._ Makes my job more difficult than it needs to be. I wish people weren’t stupid enough to mess with it,” Nines vented. _Hell,_ it’s not like the android could tattle on him or anything.

“I agree,” GV200 frowned heavily, “A large majority of the cases I have dealt with have some sort of relation to that stupid drug.” It looked up to lock eyes with Nines.

Nines took pause as he noted those words very blunt and felt almost sincere. _Huh._ He found it endearing how much the android scowled. If it wasn’t for the flashing yellow and blue LED and android uniform, Nines could have almost confused the other for a human. He felt his lips tug downward at the thought and quickly decided to change the course of the conversation.

“Maybe one day my brother will finish what he started and fully destroy the Red Ice industry,” Nines mused. Connor had spent a good few of his early years at the DPD dealing with Red Ice trafficking. He even had some of the biggest breakthroughs in the industry. That was until he decided he wanted to pursue that promotion and went into homicide.

The GV200 looked thoughtful and it even looked like it chewed its bottom lip for a moment.

“May I ask who your brother is?” The GV200 inquired. Nines felt the question was out of place.

“Yeah, his name is Connor Anderson. Works at the DPD in Homicide,” Nines prattled off. The thought finally occurring to him that the android may have seen his brother considering they both work out of the DPD.

“So, it was who I thought it was,” GV200 said, tone thoughtful, “Your brother is far less pleasant to be around than you are.”

Nines couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, he’d never heard that before in his life. Everyone enjoyed Connor’s boisterous attitude and sharp wit. Not to mention, Connor looked a lot softer with his puppy brown eyes. Not to mention he’d actively been an asshole to this android.

GV200 looked very confused, “Did I say something wrong?”

“Oh, no. Almost everyone else thinks that Connor is the more pleasant one to be around. People say I’m too stoic,” Nines said, reeling in his laughter in quickly as it came, but he couldn’t keep the humor out of his tone. Honestly, it probably just sounded crass because the android still looked perplexed.

“Hm, I do not believe they know you very well,” It smiled in Nines’ direction, “You brother is far too rash for his own good and is very rude to anyone he is not close to. You, on the other hand, maybe very stoic but you are polite and have a calm air around you.”

Nines didn’t know when his mouth had fallen open but, here he was staring slack-jawed at an android who was praising him. It made his heart do a weird little jig in his chest.

“Thank you,” was all Nines managed to say before Carol came out of the operating room loudly and frowning heavily. The interruption didn’t hurt his feelings too much, because he’d run out of appropriate things to say to the android anyway.

GV200 looked startled by the noise and whatever had made it relax disappeared, as it pulled itself tight like a bowstring. The android once again looked like the machine it was meant to be.

“It looks like she wants to speak with you, Nurse Anderson,” The GV200 smiled again, “I need to be returning to precinct anyway. Have a nice day.”

Nines returned the smile. He hummed thoughtfully, he was getting very fond of the android indeed.

“Call me Nines,” He said and realized quickly what that implied. They were friends now.

“Okay. Goodbye, _Nines,”_ The android said, tone light as it tested out the new name with a soft smile, the mechanical parts seemed to slip away ever so slightly.

Nines nodded his farewell and turned around to hear whatever it was that Carol had to say to him.


	3. Proper Pronouns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out once again to @Magical_Personia for being an awesome Beta and an amazing fiance!

About a week later, Nines was making himself a cup of coffee when the best idea ever hit him. GV200 had taken to calling him Nines quite well. He really wanted to give GV200 a nickname. Nicknames were a mark of friendship and Nines really fucking hated calling GV200, well… GV200. It felt far too plastic for someone with so much personality. Someone Nines apparently cared about. He should absolutely give him a nickname, now the question was what name would fit the android. He pondered around a few names.  _ Gordon? Vinnie? Gabe? _   
  
“Gavin!” Nines exclaimed out loud in the middle of the breakroom. He wasn’t  _ that _ loud about it, but everyone around him was startled nonetheless. He rarely, if ever, spoke above a polite inside voice. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly, but that didn’t stop his excitement. Nines couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say about it.    
  
When Nines was leaving the breakroom black coffee in tow, he had to take pause. When had he started to refer to the android by,  _ “he”? _ Nines couldn’t exactly recall, but it felt far more natural than using “it.” Nines found that he quite preferred the new pronoun. Androids deserved the proper pronouns just as much as the next person. So, at that moment Nines decided he would never again refer to androids as _ “its.”  _   
  
People noticed. Of course, they did. Most of them just looked confused for a moment as they deciphered who Nines was talking about or to. Some even gave him dirty looks for it. But Nines couldn’t bring himself to care, because the androids on his team took notice too. Their small, pleased smiles they gave him when he used correct pronouns made it all worth it.   
  
“Richard?” Nines would recognize that annoyingly squeaky voice anywhere, it was Dr. Mike Logan, one of the surgeons.   
  
_ Great, _ Nines thought to himself. Dr. Logan was a terrible gossip and loved to talk about any and everything. Nines didn’t care for gossip much, but he knew he needed to maintain a good working relationship with the older doctor.   
  
“Hello, Dr. Logan. What do I owe the pleasure?” Nines voice was smooth and anyone who didn’t know him well would mistake for something genuinely pleasant.   
  
“Ah, nothing much, just had a question for you,” Mike said, returning the smile.    
  
“Ask away.” Nines briefly looked down at his clipboard to see how much time he actually had for this conversation. A few minutes at least.  _ Damnit, _ he was hoping to get out of this.   
  
Mike looked to one of the android nurses walking into a room to check on a patient and frowned. When he looked back at Nines his face was far more serious than it had been just moments ago.   
  
“Why are you so nice to the androids?” Nines was taken aback and just stared at the surgeon. Who took it as a need for clarification, “I mean, you treat them like people and honestly it’s kind of weird and uncomfortable for some people myself included.”    
  
Nines audibly sighed and flipped a paper on his clipboard for emphasis. He did not have the patience for this conversation. When he finally responded his tone was harsher than he ever tried to use at the workplace, “Dr. Logan. I’m sorry my treating the androids as more than mere pieces of plastic makes you uncomfortable, but frankly, I do not give a shit about your opinion on the matter. Now just so you know I will continue to do as I please.”   
__  
__ “Woah, calm down,” Mike put his hands up in surrender. He was clearly not expecting Nines to react that way. “I was just saying it was weird.”   
  
“Well, maybe you should try it out sometime. The androids are quite pleasant to be around if you treat them at least halfway decently,” Nines made sure his tone left no room for further discussion, “Now if you’ll excuse me. I have work to do.” With that, he spun around on his heels leaving Mike in the dust. He smiled to himself, he felt good after doing that. Maybe Mike would take his advice, doubtful, but whatever. He’d proven his point.


	4. First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an especially rough experience with a patient leads to the GV200 android needing some comfort. Comfort Nines is willing to provide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my amazing beta @Magical_Personia! 
> 
> Title song: [Cold War Kids - First](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7pC4F-2MpE)

The next time GV200 called in with a patient in transit. Nines couldn’t help being excited, it had been a good few days since he was last here and now Nines had the chance to see if he liked the name, _Gavin._ Though he knew better than to let the excitement affect his judgment, there was a life potentially hanging in the balance.

_“Nines!_ ” GV200 called from somewhere behind him. He was here faster than normal. Nines turned around to see the android with a child cradled in his arms.  
  
A bleeding and broken child. Nines’ instincts kicked in as he quickly beckoned the android to follow him. Nines quickly got a team together as they got the child into a room. Her vitals were weak and she still needed to be stabilized. Nines briefly wondered why GV200 hadn’t done that yet. Though it took his team just a few minutes. She needed blood. One of his nurses tested it and was quickly able to identify her blood type and placed an order. God, Nines loved androids.  
  
The work on her was scary and grueling as children injured in this way normally were. Several broken bones and a severe head injury were the worst injuries she sustained. After about an hour Nines was leaving the room. She was stable and in a medically induced coma to slow the swelling in her brain. She was still in danger, but he and his team had done all they could for the moment. Nines went looking for his android, he needed to know what had happened.  
  
Nines thought what he had seen in that room was the most shocking thing he’d see that day. Until he found GV200 at the back of the hospital, covered in blood. Sitting, head tucked between his legs, LED flashing between yellow and red. Nines didn’t say anything as he crouched next to the android.  
  
“Nines?” His voice seemed rougher than normal.  
  
“Yeah?” Nines asked, his tone uncertain. He’d never seen the android like this before.  
  
_“Is she going to be okay?_ ” GV200’s voice was raw with what sounded like anguish. His scowl pulled down further than normal.  
  
“I’m not sure yet, but she’s still fighting. We’ll know more about her condition over the course of the next 24 hours,” Nines prattled off in his nurse voice. Flat, but comforting.  
  
“Okay,” the android looked Nines directly in his eyes, and they looked red. _Had he been crying?_ Then he looked away before he spoke again, “She was trying to kill herself. I got a report of a potential jumper and they wanted me to respond first since I was the closest. I didn’t get there fast enough to talk her down. I watched her jump. I wasn’t fast enough to break her fall,” He had to pause to take a deep breath, Nines could hear his insides whirling, “I ran up to her fearing the worst but she was still breathing and I knew I had to save her and I called you and brought her straight to you, because if anyone could save her it would by you. And I was right because she is still alive. Thank you for that.”  
  
Nines had to hold back emotions, suicide was something that hit pretty close to home. It was one thing this job could never dull the roughness. Something that every time he saw, he had to hold back tears.  
  
“You’re welcome. Let’s get you cleaned up. What time do you have to be back at the precinct?” Nines asked as he stood them both up. He needed to take care of his android.  
  
“Not for a while, I just need to finish my reports and respond as called for,” GV200 rattled off, his red LED settling to a steady yellow.  
  
“Okay, give me a minute,” Nines pulled out his cell phone and dialed the receptionist, “Hey Julie, It’s Richard. Do you think I could leave for a few hours? I have something important I need to deal with.”  
  
“Oh, _okay._ Wow,” Julie really sounded at a loss, “Yeah, I don’t see why not, you’re always the one working the extra shifts anyway. I’ll just change you to on call, okay?”  
  
“That’s fine. Be back later tonight.” He hung up on her and turned his attention back to the shaking police android. “Hey, let’s head out to my car. I don’t live far away. We can get you cleaned up there.” GV200 nodded and followed as Nines started to lead him away from the hospital and to his car.  
  
The ride was short, and they were both sat in a comfortable silence. When they finally pulled into Nines’ apartment complex, he guided his android discreetly to his flat.

Once they were inside Nines let out a breath that he hadn’t known he was holding. He briefly leaned against the door and thought about what in the ever-living fuck he was doing. He sighed once more and pushed himself from the door frame, resolve coursing through his veins.  
  
“Okay, I need you to take your clothes off and for you to take a shower, so I can get the blood out of these. I’ll give you some of my clothes until they’re clean, okay?” Nines said to the android who was currently bouncing nervously from foot to foot but promptly stopped at Nines’ words.  
  
The GV200’s eyes widened and he glanced down towards himself and seemed to realize for the first time the amount of blood that was coving him.  
  
“Sounds good, Nines.” He responded quietly. Then he started to take his shirt off right there in the living room.

Nines went slack-jawed as he was unsure of how to respond to that. Nines noticed woefully that underneath the android’s Cyberlife issued police jacket was a white undershirt. Nines felt heat rise to his cheeks because even though he couldn’t see the android’s chest did not mean he could see his burly arms and other previously hidden patches of synthetic skin.

The GV200 stood there scowling, with blood lightly splattered on his face and a white tank top, looked like a back-alley street fighter. His small stocky stature would make even a man of Nines’ size tremble. Though most men would be trembling for a completely different reason than why Nines was trembling at that very moment.  
  
“Are you okay? Your heart rate and breathing have accelerated considerably? You even seem to be shaking ever so slightly?” Gavin asked, pausing in his strip show.  
  
_Fuck._ Nines thought quickly as he shook himself out of his wandering thoughts.  
  
_“Uh,_ I just…” Nines had tried to clear his throat, the roughness was surprising to even his own ears, “Can you… Uh, I need you to finish undressing in the bathroom, _please?”_  
  
GV200 raised his eyebrow knowingly as Nines pulled his face into a helpless smile and pointed towards the bathroom. _God, when the hell had things taking this route?_  
  
“Sure, I can do that,” The android shot him backwards smile as he headed the direction Nines was pointing. 

Nines followed, making sure he made it and he took a right to his bedroom and began a search for some of his smaller clothing. His search turned up successful after a few minutes of him digging in the very back of his closet. Nines frowned at the long-sleeved turtleneck he found. It was too small for him to fit in now. _Hell,_ he probably hadn’t been able to fit in this shirt for at least a good few years. Though it was still going to dwarf the smaller man. Well, this was going to the best he could find. On his way out of his closet, he grabbed a pair of adjustable sweatpants.  
  
When Nines was standing outside the bathroom he made sure to wait a few minutes listening to the water running before he got the nerve to open the door.  
  
“Hey, I’m coming in to grab the rest of your clothes, and I’m going to leave some clean ones on the counter,” Nines hollered, as he screwed his eyes shut for a brief moment.  
  
“Yeah, you’re good,” the android’s voice was softened by the spray of the shower.  
  
Nines finally opened his eyes and quickly gathered up the clothes, even though he knew the android was behind a closed curtain he kept his eyes towards the floor. _Oh, boy._ Nines kept forgetting how much he liked how his android looked. He managed to get in and out without incident.  
  
Nines was clutching the bloody clothes in his hands, willing his heart to calm down. _Holy shit,_ having the android with him outside the hospital made him really, truly aware of how much he really fucking liked him.

Nines sighed, he had known he had a small crush on the attractive android for a hot minute.  
But now that he was seeing such an emotional side from the cute android it was almost too much for his heart to handle. All Nines wanted to do now was protect him and keep the android from ever feeling bad again.  
  
What a wild concept, an android capable of feeling things. If you told Nines that was possible just a couple of months ago, he would have laughed at the absurdity of the statement. But here he was, pining after an android he was pretty sure he almost caught crying.  
  
With one more shake of his head, Nines willed his legs to take him the laundry room. Cleaning blood from clothes was just a skill you got when you worked in the medical industry. So, getting these uniforms clean wasn’t a problem. Just took a little elbow grease and a couple of chemicals.

When the Cyberlife uniforms were in the wash and most of the blood was removed, Nines decided to hang out in the living room. Unsure of what else to do with himself he just sat on the couch, his hands clasped together staring at them like they could give him all the answers he needed.  
  
It was only a few minutes later when GV200 finally exited the bathroom. Nines was not prepared for what was awaiting him. GV200’s hair was messier than usual, and him wearing Nines’ too big clothes made his knees weak. Nines couldn’t help but stare at the gorgeous man standing on the threshold.  
  
“It feels weird to be out of my Cyberlife uniform,” GV200 waved his arms around for emphasis. It was ridiculous watching him because the sleeves went past his hands, “But I find I like it.”  
  
Nines was going to die, this was not something his poor heart was equipped to handle. He cleared his throat before he even dared to speak, “Well, you look nice,” Nines gestured for him to join him on the couch, “Your clothes are in the wash, should be around an hour and a half before they’re done.”  
  
“That’s good,” GV00 smile was so genuine Nines forgot how to breathe, “You know you didn’t have to do all this for me. I could have easily have gone back to DPD and been taken care of there.” But he sat down anyway, flopping full force.  
  
“Yeah, I’m aware, but I wanted to do this for you.”  
  
GV200 stared at him in disbelief, “I don’t get you Nines. You almost treat me like I’m a human though it is quite obvious I am not. Why’s that?” The android did not look upset, just curious and Nines couldn’t find it in his heart to lie.  
  
“Because I like you and honestly you act more human than most of the people I deal with,” Nines replied nonchalantly.  
  
_“Oh.”_ He seemed at a loss for words, deciding to look away from Nines and to stare at the wall covered in Nines’ photo collection.  
  
Nines took the opportunity to ask the question that had been burning in him for the last few days, “Do you have a name?”  
  
The other turned back towards Nines’ and raised his eyebrow, clearly surprised by the question, “No, I don’t have one registered.”  
  
“Well, I think you deserve one,” Nines stated, and he could have sworn he seen a blue tint grace the other’s cheeks.  
  
“You don’t say? Have anything in mind?” The android’s voice could easily be interpreted as shy.  
  
“How do you feel about the name, ‘Gavin’?” Nines knew for sure that his android’s face was blue. What a lovely blush. Who knew that androids could blush like that and Nines decided he absolutely fucking adored it.  
  
“I… _I love it,”_ He paused, _“Gavin._ Gavin name registered.” Gavin ran his hand along his face in an attempt to hide his ever-growing blush.  
  
Nines knew from here on out he was going to do everything in his power to keep that color on his face.  
  
“I’m glad,” Nines smiled at Gavin and wondered what in his life had led him to this. Crushing on an android of all things. He knew in his heart how this would play out, like a tragedy. There was no way this was going to end well. It was impossible, but fuck did he want to indulge it while it was here.

Nines’ chest tightened a bit, that seemed to be a running theme in his life. Him trying to hold onto things longer than he was meant to. _Hell,_ he did that so much it’s what led him to want to work in an emergency room. He touched his neck, feeling a phantom pain lingering there. He was still here and that meant enough to him.  
  
Nines decided to see what fuck could happen if he put himself out there. He wanted to see how long this could last. So, he swung his body around, laid his head on Gavin’s lap, and closed his eyes. Gavin was warm, a little cooler than a human body, but  _oh_ was it perfect.

Nines noted that Gavin had a heartbeat, sort of. His thirium pump made soft pulsing noises and Nines just decided he was going to listen to that and the soft whirring sounds and the other noises that Gavin’s biocomponents were making. They stayed like that for several minutes. Nines decided that he hadn’t felt this content in a while.  
  
“Nines?” Gavin finally asked breaking the comfortable silence. Nines opened his eyes and seen that Gavin had his signature scowl on, but the effect was ruined by a dark blue blush. Nines braced himself for whatever what was going to come out of the android's mouth.  
  
“Hm?” Nines smiled softly up at the android and Gavin noticed. Gavin looked really mixed and he tried to return the smile. Gavin sighed sounding... _annoyed?_  
__  
_“Areyoutryingtocourtme?”_ Gavin said all in one breath.  
  
Nines was not expecting that. But why should he lie? That just wasn’t his style. He sat up and leaned in close locking his blue eyes with Gavin’s brown ones. Gavin’s eyes were wide and his mouth parted slightly. Nines had to activity stop himself from closing that distance and seeing just how much of Gavin could be tinted that lovely blue.  
  
“I guess I am,” Nines whispered, his voice soft like silk. He smiled softly and waited for a reaction.  
  
He got one, and Nines was more than pleased to note that Gavin’s blush was spreading to his neck and ears.  
  
_“Why?”_ Gavin said in a small, breathy voice.  
  
Nines felt so much pull towards the android, he could have sworn they were opposite ends of magnets. He shrugged and leaned even closer to Gavin, their faces only inches apart now, causing Gavin’s LED to briefly flash yellow.  
  
“I honestly don’t know, but _damn_ do I have feelings for you,” Nines whispered, “How about you? What do you feel?”  
  
“I, _uh,_ I feel, I…” Gavin sputtered and swallowed before he continued, Gavin’s LED was now flashing between red and yellow, _“I’m not supposed to be able to_ ** _feel_** _anything! I’m not supposed to_ ** _want_** _anything!”_ He looked panicked, his eyes darting randomly across Nines’ face.  
  
Nines’ smile fell from his face, he was expecting something like that. It still hurt nonetheless. Though he wasn’t even sure what those words had truly meant. _Not supposed to feel anything?_ That meant he _was_ feeling something, but _what?_  
  
“That’s not what I asked,” Nines needed to try to dig deeper, he knew there was more to Gavin than his programming, _there had to be,_ “How does _Gavin_ feel in this moment?”  
  
“I... I feel phcking something and it’s been giving me a lot of errors messages,” Gavin scratched the back of his neck, such a human motion. “My software is phcked up because of you, but I think I like it.”  
  
Neither of them said anything for a few moments and the moment was shattered by the sound of the washer beeping loudly. Nines smiled apologetically as he pulled himself up from the couch. Gavin looked lost for a moment as his eyes watched Nines’ walk away.  
  
Nines quickly switched over the laundry, satisfied with the fact that a vast majority of the blood had come out. When the dryer was running, he headed back to the living room.  
  
_Ah,_ she had finally decided to show her face. Lilith, his little black cat, was sniffing the hand of a curious Gavin. Nines couldn’t help but smile as she accepted the android and he began to pet her. Nines heart skipped a beat at pure happiness that overtook Gavin when Lilith decided he was worthy and jumped up onto the couch and cuddled with him.  
  
“Well, good on you to come out of hiding,” Nines mocked softly as he joined the pair on the couch.  
  
“Who is this?” Gavin asked as he continued to pet the purring flirt.  
  
“This is Lilith, she keeps me company,” Nines answered.  
  
“She’s sweet, I like her,” Gavin’s smile became impossibly softer.  
  
Nines smiled, leaning against Gavin and joined him in petting his cat. Her purring turned up immediately not used to having this much attention.  
  
This was Nines’ version of heaven, a nice man to cuddle with that his cat approved of. He really wanted to see what made Gavin tick. _What made him so different?_ _What made it to where he could blush that pretty shade blue?_ But this wasn’t the time and it may never be.  
  
_“Nines?”_ Gavin broke the silence, again, after a while.  
  
“Yes, Gavin?”  
  
“Can I keep this shirt?” Gavin asked, his tone shy, while he was fidgeting with the hem.  
  
Nines couldn’t bring himself to say no, not to mention he couldn’t wear that shirt if you paid him to.  
  
“Of course, I don’t see why not.”  
  
“Thank you,” Gavin tried to hide his smile as he went back to petting Lilith.  
  
They stayed like that, leaning on each other petting a purring feline until the dryer screamed signaling it had completed its cycle. Nines stood up and beckoned for Gavin to follow.  
  
Gavin stood up slowly allowing Lilith a moment to complain before she jumped off the couch padded towards where her food was. Nines smiled at the display and when Gavin was at his side he walked towards the back of the flat.  
  
Nines pulled out the clean clothes and handed them to the smaller man. Who smiled as he turned to walk towards the bathroom to change. When he came back, he smiled as he handed Nines his white undershirt.  
  
“You can keep this. but only in exchange for your shirt, which you’ve given me already, so you can just have it I guess,” Gavin rambled. Nines noted he could see that Gavin was wearing his shirt under his Cyberlife uniform, if only barely. He could see the black fabric peeking over the color of his shirt and at the ends of his sleeves. Nines came to the conclusion that he was going to die at the hands of this gorgeous, sweet android.  
  
Nines’ smile was impossibly wide as he nodded and accepted the shirt that Gavin had offered him. He clutched the surprisingly soft fabric in his hands. Looking at the shirt, he knew he had no chance of ever fitting the shirt over his wide chest so, he knew this shirt had a future as a pillowcase.  
  
“Thank you,” Nines whispered, his voice thick with an emotion he couldn’t quite place.  
  
“You know you really didn’t have to do any of this for me,” Gavin said, his tone hushed.  
  
“Yeah, I know. But I did anyway, and I’m really happy I have,” Nines had to pause to keep his voice from shaking before he could continue, “I’m going to protect you, Gavin, because I really want to.”  
  
Gavin’s beautiful blue blush returned, and his eyes glossed over with something Nines couldn’t name.  
  
“Okay, I’ll protect you too,” Gavin spoke finally, his voice filled with determination. Then looked over Nines’ shoulder, “And Lilith, I like her, too.”  
  
Nines knew what that meant, and it made his heart soar. Here he was falling head over heels for an android, who was starting to return his feelings. Fuck, this had to be illegal somehow. But Nines couldn’t bring himself to care if he ended up in jail Connor and Conrad would get him out. The price being a handful of choice words, but they would get him out nonetheless.  
  
Gavin’s LED flickered yellowed, the blank look overtook Gavin as he blinked rapidly for a moment.  
  
“There is a crime scene I must respond to and it is probably about time for you to go back to the ER,” Gavin said, sounding more like an android than he had in a long time.  
  
The change knocked Nines for a loop. His Gavin was replaced almost in an instant by the GV200 Police android. Though, he didn’t have a chance to dwell on that too much it was time for action. There was a possibility of lives being on the line.  
  
“Okay, I’ll take you to the scene and we can go back to the hospital together,” Nines was already gathering his stuff to go, he was happy he hadn’t even bothered to change out of his scrubs, “You have a vehicle at the hospital, correct?”  
  
“Yes, it’s a semi-autonomous DPD vehicle, but it could be considered mine.” Gavin replied, and with that they were on the road. Gavin had insisted on driving and Nines was calmly riding in the passenger seat. Gavin was an extremely efficient and effective driver. Something he could appreciate, considering the amount of times he’s ridden with an overzealous Connor or Conrad for that matter. Though, Nines couldn’t say too much, considering it was them who taught him how to drive in the first place.  
  
They were at the scene in around seven minutes and it was messy, but that didn’t bother Nines a bit. He’s seen far, far worse. Gavin told Nines to head to the hospital because there was an ambulance on the scene that Gavin was going to take back with the patient. Nines compiled but didn’t get a chance to see Gavin for a few days after that. Things like that happen, nature of the work and all that.


	5. Tea Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines and Connor have lunch together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya know, reverse AU Connor is like the best character to write like ever?

Nines was enjoying his day off, thankfully they didn’t take anything away from his time off, with him skipping on the hospital a few days ago. Though, the extra hours he put in more than made up for that. He worked way too much, but he wasn’t the only one.

 _“Sorry, I’m late!_ I stayed at the precinct too long working on this new case I’m _this_ close to cracking,” Connor mumbled quickly, making a gesture with his hand to indicate just how close. Then he threw himself down into the chair across from Nines.

Nines rolled his eyes, this was customary. Connor was rarely, if ever, on time to anything besides work. And the only reason he was on time to work was that more often than not he simply didn’t go home. “Hey, Con. Don’t sweat it,” Nines smiled as he handed a menu to his older brother.

“I will. Anyways,” Connor beamed, smiling that smile that only seemed to show up for his brothers. It was good enough to fool most people that the other was okay, but it didn’t fool Nines. Connor still had dark bags under his eyes and still hadn’t put on a healthy amount of weight. But he was still alive and that had to count for something at this point. Honestly, it was a fucking miracle that any of the Anderson boys were still alive.

“New case you say?” Nines asked over the rim of the menu.

Connor groaned, but he was grinning like a madman.

“Yeah, easy one, just need to gather the last few pieces of evidence to get the prosecution on my side. It was a homicide, multiple victims, a whole family in fact. Really need to get the motherfucker behind bars who did it.”

“Gruesome,” Nines commented as he continued to scan over his menu.

“What about you, Ninety-Nines? You looked different than normal,” Connor muttered glancing across the table a suspicious eyebrow raised.

“I have changed nothing about my physical appearance,” Nines returned the look, adjusting his dark purple glasses for emphasis.

“No. You complete dipshit,” Connor rolled his eyes, “Like you looked more relaxed, I don’t know, like something good is happening in your life.” Connor turned his hands over, his voice laced with a soft disbelief.

Nines sighed, the thing that sucked about both of his brothers being detectives was that he couldn’t hide anything from them, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Nines had opened his mouth to argue but Connor bounced in his seat.

“Oh! So, I’m right?” Connor exclaimed pointing at his younger brother.

“Maybe, it’s frankly nothing important,” Nines tried to play it off.

Connor was not falling for it, instead, his eyes flashed dangerously.

 _Fuck, goddammit._ Nines thought panicked and Connor had seen right through him like he always fucking does.

“Oh my god, this is serious!” Connor heckled, “You’re fucking someone aren’t you?” Connor’s smiled turned devilish, “Or are you the one being fucked?”

Nines felt his eyes widen and his face turned bright red. His mouth fell open for a moment before he could even collect himself enough to speak.

 _“Excuse me?”_ Nines squeaked, his normally collected voice had gone out the fucking window.

Connor was pointing at him again, grinning like the moron he was.

 _“Holy fucking shit!_ You absolutely **_have_ ** to tell me everything!” Connor was flapping his hands now, clearly pleased.

“There is nothing to tell,” Nines insisted trying to reign in his voice.

Connor groaned clearly not believing him, “Come on… I _know_ you’re _at least_ interested in someone,” He gave Nines his goddamned puppy eyes and Nines finally caved knowing he was fighting a losing battle anyway.

 _“Fucking fine,”_ Nines ran a hand through his hair, “There’s this guy I have a big, fucking gay crush on. Is _that_ what you want to hear?”

" _Yes!”_ Connor’s smile overtook his face and he leaned on his elbows on the table clearly waiting for more details.

Nines was happy that his stupid brother was happy even if the little shithead was teasing the fuck out of him. He smiled and rolled his eyes, glad something as simple as a crush made Connor so happy. Though Nines felt silly thinking about the stew of feelings he had for Gavin as something as simple as a crush.

“Tell me about this guy who has swept my unmoving little brother off his feet,” Connor said, pushing again for more details.

Nines felt his stomach drop. What was he supposed to say, _‘Oh his name is Gavin he’s great and totally a_ **_fucking android_ ** _that we both work with.’_ Not happening. But Connor wouldn’t be satisfied without details and Nines knew that meant he would go digging and all hell would break loose. Well, he _could_ twist the truth.

“Well, his name is Gavin,” Nines started, “He’s an EMT and is really sweet, but he’s also pretty rough around the edges, but I like that about him. I’m looking forward to where this could lead.”

“Nice! I’m hoping for the best!”

“Me too, Lilith approves so it can’t go too wrong,” Nines answered nonchalantly, failing to catch the implication of what he just said until it was too late.

Connor slapped his hands down on the table, Nines jumped slightly and raised his pierced eyebrow.

“He’s been to your house and you’re telling me you guys _aren’t_ fucking?”

 _“Listen,_ you know I’m a wine and dine kind of man, the sheer fact that you’re insinuating differently offends me,” Nines tried to put some bite in his tone, but it fell flat.

“Be offended,” Connor rolled his eyes, “You just need to get that dick already.”

Nines was going to attempt to make a rebuttal, but the waitress took that exact moment to walk up to the table. She smiled, but the slight blush on her face gave away the fact that she overheard at least part of their conversation.

“What can I get for you, gentlemen?” She asked sweetly. Connor spoke first.

“I’ll take a large peppermint mocha, and whatever dessert you guys have on special today,” Connor rattled off.

Nines sighed, taking a wild guess this was going to be the first thing his brother had eaten in a while. But, he wasn’t going to stop him. The medical lectures he’d given Connor had done nothing but make them fight. At least he was going to eat _something._

“Well, today’s special is a chocolate swirl roll with assorted fruits, does that still sound good?” She smiled down at Connor as she chewed on the end of her pen.

“Perfect.” She grinned and pulled the pen from her mouth and wrote the order down.

“And what about you?” She asked Nines briefly pointing the pen toward him.

“I will have a cold brew, black, and a chocolate chip muffin,” Nines ordered, so much blander than his eccentric brother.

“Okay, I’ll have that right out,” She grinned as she walked away from the table.

“So, since I’m clearly not going to get any more out of you about this ‘Gavin,’ how’s work?” The rest of their conversation was casual catching up and the sorts.

Nines was glad Connor was doing well for the most part. He worried about him too much, but it wasn’t unwarranted, not since Nines had to save the life of his own brother more than once. Always fearing the day, he wouldn’t get Connor’s daily message and he would go to his brother’s house and find him dead on the fucking floor.

They were leaving the café when Nines remembered the odd question he wanted to ask Connor. “Hey, Con?”

“Yeah?”

“How often do people get in trouble for fixing old androids?” Nines tried asking casually, which he was something he was very good at.

“Not often, not something we worry about much unless there is a stolen android or something crazy like we think it has something to do with Red Ice. Why?”

“I was just curious, some interesting hospital nonsense,” Nines gave Connor a sideways smile. If it took place in the ER Connor couldn’t ask about it and Nines knew he hated that.

“Those damn hospitals, sometimes I wish I could hear what those walls have to say,” Connor mused.

“Nothing good, I promise,” Nines smiled as he grabbed his shorter brother into a side hug, pulling him over in the process, “Well, I have things to do, I’m not off enough to get everything I need to get done.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Connor returned the hug after he righted himself, “See you next one?”

“Always, as long as you can make it,” Nines waved his way off, hoping once again that it won’t be the last time he sees him.


	6. Windy Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines is on a mission to learn more about androids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the wonders of foreshadowing and writing prerevolution Deviants.
> 
> Shoutout to my amazing Beta @Magical_Personia. I love you!

Nines was on a mission. Which had led him into a situation he never expected. Searching for a black-market android parts dealer. He was not one to break laws, not anymore at least. But this time he was making an exception. He made a promise to Gavin and he fully intended to keep it.

This part of town was a little seedy, but no one in their right mind was going to fuck with him. He was a broad-shouldered man who was clearly all of six foot and then some with a stone-cold stare and a take no shit attitude. If it wasn’t for his dressy casual clothes, he would have fit right in. That wasn’t a skill you easily forgot.

Nines steeled his nerves. He was going in to learn a few basic processes, grab some supplies, and get out. He really hoped the information he had managed to uncover wasn’t completely bogus. He was heading to a shop by the name of Windy Blues.

When Nines stopped in front of a warmly decorated building. He had to stop and double check the address he had stashed away in his pea coat pocket. This  _ was  _ the right place. Windy Blues was a decently nondescript building, It looked like any other hipster themed coffee shop, except for the blue highlights among the warm browns. He shook his head and stowed the paper as he decided it was now or never. Worst-case scenario he just bought an overpriced cup of coffee.

Nines walked through the door the cute little jingle startled him. The shop was just as quaint on the inside. A quick glance around confirmed that the shop was well maintained. Oddly enough, there was no one inside but a small strawberry blonde barista. Though that was to be expected at this time of the day, it was after the morning and lunch rushes had already bought their caffeine fix.

“Hello, how can I help you today?” The barista poked her head up from behind the counter. Nines couldn’t help the striking sense of familiarity she gave him. It was unsettling because it was not a good recognition. He shook his head and pulled out his notes briefly and peeked at the scribbles.

“I’m looking for the 310 special. I’m feeling a little blue?” Nines tone came out a little jumbled, the words strange on his tongue.

The girl’s eyes immediately looked impossibly softer, “Oh my. I just expected you to order coffee. You don’t look like the kind of guy who usually asks for that,” She was still smiling as walked from behind the counter.

That comment unsettled Nines, “Well, I’m more so asking for a friend,” Nines said, trying to cover his ass in case he had fucked this up already.

“Ah, I figured as much considering you’re a human,” She chuckled, “Follow me, please.”

Nines slowly followed the small woman. There were only so many things that could go wrong.  _ Was she an android? _ She got to the back and opened a door that looked like it led to a storeroom.  _ Why was she so familiar to him? _

“Wendy? Who are you bringing back here?” Came another voice from the backroom.

“Someone looking to get the 310 special,” Wendy responded cutely, she was clearly very close to the owner of the other voice.

“Oh, okay. Bring them back here then.” Wendy smiled at Nines and gestured towards for him to follow her into that back room.

Nines did as he was told, quickly calculating the fastest way to get out if the need arose. As soon as Nines crossed the threshold he knew he was in the right place. There were android biocomponents and blue blood lining the walls. He didn’t have much time to observe, because the owner of the other voice appeared. Nines knew she was an android immediately given the flashing yellow-blue LED on her temple.

She did not look pleased when she noticed Nines,  _ “You’re not an android?” _

“No, I’m not?” Nines wasn’t sure how to proceed.

_ What the fuck had he just ordered? What the fuck did that code mean? 310 special. Feeling blue.  _ Nines mentally slapped himself. Thirium, he just ordered Thirium.  _ Clever. _

“How the hell do you know about us if you’re a human without an android?” The android glanced in the other girl’s direction, “Wendy,  _ what the fuck?” _ The other just shrugged, clearly unapologetic.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better it’s for my android?” Nines was quickly trying to take the others suspension away from him.

“Well, Lucky. He’s not the first human to come here alone and we all know the others were trustworthy,” Wendy supplied before Lucky could respond to Nines.

“Ugh, fine. What are you looking for and why can’t you get in a Cyberlife store?” Lucky asked as she went back inside the storeroom. Clearly expecting the others to follow.

Nines passed the threshold and Wendy closed the door behind them. He felt his blood pressure spike. Hopefully, this did not end with him getting murdered.

“I’m taking care of an android who is  _ technically _ not mine and I also have a strong desire to learn how to fix them,” Nines supplied trying to keep the information to a minimum. He wasn’t even sure what he and Gavin were just yet. Sure, Nines was pretty sure he was falling in love with the android, but as for how Gavin was feeling about them. Nines had very little to go off of.

“Ah, so wanting to become an android doctor? For-profit?  _ Or…?” _ Lucky mused as she picked up a clipboard.

“Well, I’m an ER nurse already and I’m quite fond of androids and don’t like seeing them hurt and if they don’t get fixed they get replaced or destroyed and I frankly don’t like it,” Nines couldn’t help the bitter tone that leaked into his voice. He was also surprised by how true those words were.

“So, you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” Lucky did not seem convinced.

“I guess you could say that,” Nines felt oddly patronized.

Wendy was bouncing around checking on things, but her gaze was shifting between the two of them quite frequently. She was clearly only trying to look busy as an excuse to eavesdrop.

Nines was also started glancing between the two of the women.  _ Where the hell did he know Wendy from?  _ The thought was driving him up the wall by this point.

“You are not telling me the full truth,” Lucky said as she passed her clipboard towards Wendy. Who smiled brightly as she took it.

Nines coughed, clearly showing his distaste in her callout, “Excuse me?”

“You can’t hide the truth from me, I’m a KL900 model. I was literally invented to predict the future and human behavior, just get out with it,” Lucky had cocked her hip out placing a hand on it. Sass was basically dripping off of her.

Nines was blown away by how human Lucky was acting. He’d never seen anything like it. If it wasn’t for the LED Nines would have literally no clue that she was an android. Wendy, on the other hand, he  _ literally  _ had no idea if she was human or android. Still, he had no idea how to respond to Lucky.  _ Should he just tell her about Gavin? _

“How much of the truth do you require for you to teach me about how to fix androids?” Nines frowned, he at least learned some negotiating skills from Conrad. Well, he never said he was  _ good _ at negotiating.

Lucky rolled her eyes, “Why did you start to care about androids? Because you do actually care,” Lucky rebutted.

_ “Fine,” _ Nines muttered, “I’m in love with an android.”

Wendy squealed, and Lucky’s eyes widened. Their reaction was two opposite types of shock. Lucky’s was an open mouth disbelief and Wendy’s was a soft-eyed surprise.

“Oh,” Lucky pursed her lips in understanding, “That’ll do it. How lovely. What do they do?”

“Gavin is a specialized EMT, but he’s a police model,” Nines said, a hint of pride leaking into his tone.

“Ah, what model is he?”

“He’s a GV200. I think his complete model number is 872 124 814 – 32,” Nines rattled off.

Lucky pursed her lips, “That’s a custom model line. Someone made him to be unique, interesting.”

“Are you going to help me or not?” Nines’ tone was dry. Patience was never one of his strong suits.

“Yeah, fuck. You know for a nurse you sure are rude,” Lucky rolled her eyes, but then she led him further into the room.

“To be fair, I’m not working right now,” Nines remarked, his tone bordering between sarcastic and playful.

“Well, you’re about to be. Put on some gloves,” Lucky pointed towards a wall where the more human medical supplies were located, “Oh, I’ve never even asked your name,” Lucky’s face lightly tinted blue. So, it was an android thing, not just Gavin.  _ How nice. _

“My name is Richard, but you can call me Nines,” He grinned as he reached out to shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you Nines. Now let’s see how well you can handle blue blood!” Lucky said snapping the gloves on for emphasis.

Nines was quickly pulled into working on repairing spare limbs and fixing other miscellaneous biocomponents. He couldn’t help but notice how eerily similar working on androids was to working on humans. But it made the learning process easier.

“So, Lucky,” Nines asked after they finished repairing a damaged arm component, “Pardon my bluntness, but how do you act so, for lack of a better word,  _ human?” _

Lucky hummed as she pulled a damaged leg down from the racking.

“Well, I’m honestly surprised you don’t know,” Lucky mused as she put the leg on the table.

“I’m still new to this,” Nines shrugged. Unsure of what she was trying to imply

“I understand,” She opened a panel on the leg to expose some damaged wires. Then she started talking, “I’m what you call a Deviant. An android who has broken their own programming. It’s happened to a few of us. After we actively make a choice that contradicts directly with our programming we gain the ability to feel emotions and think for ourselves. Completely disregarding our original purpose and gain the ability to have emotions and variations thereof.”

“That’s amazing. I  _ knew  _ there was more to androids than meets the eye,” Nines said as he reached into the arm panel to fix the misconnections.

“Is your Gavin a deviant?”

“I don’t know,” Nines scrunched his eyebrows together, “Sometimes his eyes sparkle with something more and other times they just seem empty.”

“He probably hasn’t deviated yet. There is usually a process to the whole thing. It's not normally a random occurrence,” Lucky mused.

“That’s good to know. I was a little worried,” Nines said.

“Listen, Nines,” Lucky paused in her work, “When Gavin deviants he will become something new and alive and that is a process and that process may or may not end up including you.”

“I understand, it will be his choice and his alone,” Nines replied honestly. Sure, if Gavin decided he didn’t want to stay with Nines. He could live with it, but it would hurt for a while.

“You’re a good human, Nines,” Lucky gave him a private smile as she pointed to correct one of Nines movements.

“Thank you, Lucky.”

Nines left several hours later with a dozen things of blue blood and a couple of biocomponents, namely a Thirium Regulator that was compatible with Gavin. He had learned so much and Lucky really appreciated all the work he helped her catch up on. They had exchanged phone numbers just in case he had an emergency, or Windy Blues needed an extra set of hands.


	7. Sweet Thirium and Summer Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines takes Gavin out on a picnic!

Nines had always liked his job, but he was liking it more and more every day now. He liked coming to work because he knew he would be in good company. Boy, he was crushing and the whole world couldn't stop him if they tried. Nines knew they would try to do just that. People weren’t the best when it came to accepting things that were different, but the Anderson boys were never good at listening. 

Now that Nines had learned the truth about the full capabilities of androids, he was more than happy to say fuck it to the norms.  
  
Nines was bound determined to get Gavin and he had a plan. The whole process may take a while, but today things were lining up nicely. It was nearing the end of Nines’ Friday night shift and Gavin was still here.  
  
It was the beginning of a warm Saturday and waiting in his car was a nice lunch made for both an android and a human. Now all he had to do was actually find Gavin, which wasn’t all that hard. He was dozing in his usual chair probably waiting for an update from the DPD or one of the doctors. Nines tried to not be too excited as he approached the android. He tapped the android’s shoulder.  
  
Gavin startled his eyes flew open and his LED cycled yellow a few times before it settled back to a calm blue. He gave Nines a small smile to cover up the fact that he had let the human scare him.  
  
“Hey Gavin, would you come with me?” Nines sent Gavin a bright smile, one he currently saved only for the other. He made his tone light, trying to convey his mischievous intentions.  
  
“Of course,” Gavin stood up, his scowl softening a bit, “What’s up, Nines?”  
  
Nines made the universal follow me gesture. He kept grinning as he spoke, “Do you have to be back at the precinct anytime soon?”  
  
_“No?_ Should I be worried? Something exciting always seems to happen when you ask me that,” Gavin continued to frown, but a curious smile was creeping onto his face.  
  
“I only have enjoyable plans and ideas,” Nines teased, and they had arrived at the room where Nines had one of his surprises hidden. He peeked around, the coast was clear. He flashed the android a playful grin and grabbed him and pulled him into the empty room.  
  
“What the phck?” Gavin managed to croak out in surprise.  
  
Nines smiled, he liked the way Gavin swore. It was so uniquely Gavin. The pronunciation was always a little off, but It was probably his social protocol blocking the correct use. Nines continued to smile despite himself and blatantly didn’t explain anything to his android. He pulled Gavin to a stop and when the android opened his mouth to protest again and Nines put his finger to the android’s lips.  
  
Gavin looked insulted as he scrunched his eyebrows together and crossed his arms but stood quietly.  
  
Nines turned around and went to where he had stashed a change of clothes for Gavin. He grabbed them and turned around a presented them to the android, “Here, I need you to change into this,” Nines handed Gavin a black long sleeved shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a brown leather jacket. Nines had taken an educated guess on the smaller man’s measurements and went out and bought these garments. Hoping they would be the type Gavin would like, but right now Gavin was staring at them like they were going to burn him. Nines was a little unsure how to feel.  
  
“It’s illegal for androids to anywhere go without our identifiers exposed,” Gavin said in a tone Nines could only describe as robotic. Nines rolled his eyes. All these laws were written by literal fucking Nazis. _Who gave a fuck?_  
  
“Eh, frankly I don’t give a fuck about that law or I wouldn’t be giving you the clothes,” Nines conveyed calculated annoyance, then he purposefully changed his tone, “Come on live a little, I won’t tattle.” Nines’ smile turned into something a little molten.  
  
Gavin’s face flushed catching the change in the atmosphere.  
  
“Okay, fine. I’ll change,” Gavin muttered and started to take off his clothes. A strip of his toned stomach was put on display as the police uniform was being pulled off.  
  
Nines steeled his nerves and turned around. Gavin _that motherfucker_ had probably done that on purpose, considering the fact he knew that Nines was attracted to him.  
  
A few minutes later the rustling of clothing stopped, and Gavin spoke up again, “I’m out of my Cyberlife uniform. _Happy?”_  
  
Nines turned around and felt the air leave his lungs. Happy was an understatement. Gavin was standing before him in a biker’s outfit that was basically made for him. Except for his flashing LED Gavin looked perfectly human.  
  
“You look fantastic, how do you like it?” Nines asked as he closed the space between them. Leaving only about six inches of space between them.  
  
“I feel pretty good, I really like it,” Gavin looked up, hopeful, “Can I keep these?”  
  
Nines hadn’t smiled this much in years. Gavin was one of the best things to happen to him.  
  
“Of course, I bought these especially for you,” Nines brushed his fingers across Gavin’s LED, the touch was intimate. Nines felt color rise to his own cheeks, red contrasting blue. They stayed like that for several moments, until Nines couldn’t trust himself not to act any further. He pulled his hand back and Gavin chased the movement ever so slightly. Nines pretended he didn’t notice, “One last piece to make it all complete.” Nines whispered as he placed a solid black ballcap on Gavin’s head, effectively covering his LED. 

Gavin messed with the cap for a moment, and then stuck his hands into the pockets of his new jacket, trying to hide his embarrassment, “Now, that I’ve changed what the point of all this?” Gavin inquired vaguely gesturing towards himself.  
  
“I’d like to invite you to a picnic in the park,” Nines said, sticking his hands into his scrub pockets.  
  
“A picnic? With me disguised as a human,” Gavin stated. Clearly confused then his mouth fell open, _“You’re asking me out on a date!”_  
  
“I am. What do you say?” Nines whispered and had to resist the urge to reach out to touch Gavin again.  
  
Gavin was clearly trying to appear disinterested by looking out to his left and shrugged. Though the dark blue blush gave him away.  
  
Nines could tell Gavin was thrilled. There had been a bit of build up to this event. They had gotten to know each other quite well. The android knew things about Nines that only his brothers knew. And few things that no one but Nines knew. They had spent so much time together, so many moments shared. With these thoughts running through his mind Nines was only succeeding to make himself more and more nervous.  
  
“I mean, you’ve already got me dressed for the occasion so why the phck not?” Gavin said falsifying exasperation but he failed miserably as a smile overtook his blushing face.  
  
Nines couldn’t help the goofy grin that overtook his face, “Fantastic, would you be okay with waiting in my car while I go and change?”  
  
“Of course not, show me the way.” Nines obliged, grabbing Gavin’s hand and quickly leading him out the nearest exit. No one had the chance to see them, which would have ended the possibility of a date in the park, but they would have been moved to the DPD or worse Cyberlife.  
  
Nines’ smile wasn’t going to falter anytime soon, his plan was going perfectly. Gavin was uncharacteristically quiet as he followed behind him, but that probably had to do with the fact that he was too focused on their joined hands. _Adorable._  
  
“Here you go,” Nines ushered as they arrived at his car and opened the door for Gavin.  
  
“Thanks,” Gavin muttered as he climbed in. “You look like a complete dipshit, Nines.”  
  
“Listen to you,” Nines laughed it off, “I’ll be back in few minutes. Here are my keys, if you would like to turn on the radio or something.”  
  
Gavin took the keys and nodded and he shut the door with a soft pull. He leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.  
  
Nines only hesitated for a moment longer before he turned back to the hospital. He made his way discreetly as he could to the ER employee room.  
  
Nines changed his clothes, putting on something a little nicer than normal. Which was saying something considering he always held himself to a high standard in that regard. Then he attempted to do his hair. Which was honestly an attempt made in vain. His wavy and unruly cowlicks stayed stubbornly in place. He went unbothered until he was at his locker and was using his mirror to put in his favorite eyebrow barbell.  
  
“You’re sure getting fancied up. Anything special planned today?” Mike said from behind him.  
  
Nines had to suppress a groan as he finished tightening up the purple ball, “Not particularly. Just putting this back in after my shift, like I always do,” Nines’ tone was strained, he tried to discourage conversation by continuing to get ready, turning to take out his contacts.  
  
“Could have fooled me, you’ve been uncharacteristically giddy recently. Not to mention this getup is fancy even considering you're tasting. You find you a girl?” Mike was trying to sound casual as he went to open his own locker. Nines put his glasses on his face a directed a glare over the rims at the surgeon. _Find a girl, what a laugh._  
  
“Mike, _I’m gay,”_ Nines corrected him, wondering how in the hell he hadn’t received the memo. _Like what the fuck?_ This man was the biggest gossip hound in the hospital. He was even worse than Carol! _And he had missed the goddamned memo about him being a raging homosexual?_ He had a fucking pride flag on his car for fuck's sake!  
  
“No shit? Well, find you a guy then?” Mike took it in stride, well it wasn’t the 2010s anymore.  
  
Nines couldn’t help but seethe, “You’re not going to give it a rest, _are you?”_  
  
“Nah, but I’m going to take your avoidance as a yes, so correct me if I’m wrong,” Mike grinned.  
  
“Fine, yes. I’m going on a date. Congratulations you guessed it. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go so I’m not late,” Nines drew out as he slammed his locker. Mike didn’t even seem to notice, too giddy to care.  
  
“Awesome, have a great time,” Mike said as he finally wandered out of the employee room.  
  
Nines rolled his eyes and took his leave. He couldn’t believe that man. Every time he had a conversation with Mike, he wanted to stab a pencil into his ears. Or better yet stab the pencil into the surgeon’s eyeball.  
  
Nines was adjusting his turtleneck for the tenth time as he walked up towards his car. It seemed that Gavin had decided to turn the car on. Nines opened the driver side door and he was promptly blasted with music.  
  
Nines couldn’t help the grimaced that tugged at his lips, he really didn’t like music. Especially not piercing, guitar-heavy, screaming rock music. He climbed in ignoring the disgust. He had said that Gavin could listen to the radio. _But why grudge rock?_  
  
“About time you got here,” Gavin said over the music, he was smiling and tapping his foot to the music, lightly bobbing his head.  
  
Nines was suddenly mesmerized, forgetting his distaste in the music for a moment as he watched Gavin essentially dance in his seat. Gavin was acting more human than Nines was at this moment. How ironic.  
  
“Ran into Mike,” Nines knew that Gavin had the displeasure of also knowing the surgeon.  
  
_“Gross,”_ Gavin muttered as he fiddled with his ballcap.  
  
Nines hummed in response, finally reaching over and lowering the volume of the music to a tolerable level. Then he threw the car into gear.  
  
“Let’s get going before the weather gets too warm,” Nines reached over and brushed his hand over Gavin’s cheek simply because he could. Then just as quickly as he was focusing on the road, both hands on the wheel.  
  
_“Phcking Humans,”_ Gavin muttered to himself and he propped his head on his elbow to look at the window. It could have easily been mistaken as pouting, but Nines knew better. The android was attempting to look casual as his whole face was tinted that beautiful blue.  
  
They stayed that way until Nines stopped the car at the park that he had chosen for their date. Thankfully, it looked empty enough with only a few couples and families milling about. No one that would pay them any mind. He turned around to smile at Gavin.  
  
“We’re here,” Nines turned the car off and opened his door, finally silencing the racket, “Come on, I have to get the cooler out of the trunk.”  
  
“Okay, I’m coming,” Gavin called back as he fumbled with his seatbelt and basically rolled out of the car.  
  
Nines raised an eyebrow at the scene as he walked to the back of the car. He was proud of the little picnic spread he had put together as he pulled out a small cooler and a blanket.  
  
“Hey, Gav?” Nines called, and his android’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and then and only then did Nines realize he just given the GV200 another nickname. He liked it, and Gavin didn’t look displeased either.  
  
“Yeah?” Gavin muttered as he walked up to him, face that lovely shade of blue again.  
  
“Here you go,” Nines handed Gavin the cooler and closed the truck, “Let’s go find somewhere to set up.”  
  
Gavin rolled his eyes as he followed closely behind. They ended up picking a lightly shaded spot towards the pond in the center of the park. A very romantic setting or so Nines hoped.  
  
“Doesn’t this seem a bit excessive?” Gavin muttered as he spread out the blanket, “I mean why can’t we just sit on the dirt?”  
  
“Because I don’t want to,” Nines remarked, “Plus, this is the customary way to have a picnic, blanket, basket, _eh,_ cooler, and food.”  
  
“I can’t eat, Nines,” Gavin said in that damn robotic tone. The one that made Nines think he was just reading off prewritten code. Something so un-Gavin like at this point it was disturbing to hear it again.  
  
“Well, you can’t eat normal food, but I brought something special for you,” Nines grinned as he sat down, Gavin raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, clearly not convinced, “Come on sit down and I’ll get it out.” Gavin just flopped down. _Such a brat._  
  
“Okay, what is this magical thing you brought that I could eat?” Gavin inquired as he got comfortable.  
  
“Impatient, aren’t we?”  
  
“Yeah, not made to be patient,” Gavin rolled his eyes and his hands were making grabby motions.  
  
Nines gave him a deadpanned stare as he pulled out the bottle of thirium he had packed. Lucky had taught him that there was a way to flavor it slightly to keep things interesting. So, Nines was pretty excited to try it out.  
  
Gavin eyed it with suspicion, “Take the damn bottle, Gavin, I’m not trying to kill you or anything.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” the android muttered finally taking the bottle from Nines.  
  
Nines couldn’t help the fond smile that overtook his face. This bratty android had stolen his entire heart and there was no going back.  
  
Gavin took the lid off and looked into the bottle with wide eyes. His eyebrows tried to disappear in his hairline again, “This is thirium, you got me thirium.”  
  
“Yeah, I did. Now, try it.”  
  
“Fine, but just for the record. My thirium levels are fine,” Gavin said with a tone that did not match his face. His eyes were bright, and his face was dusted blue, he was pleased that Nines had done this for him. When he finally took a drink, his face drew up in shock, “This tastes really good? How did you make thirium taste... _good?”_  
  
“It’s a trick I learned from an android, thought you might enjoy it. So, I made it for you,” Nines said as he turned to grab his own lunch.  
  
_“It's awesome!_ I didn’t know you could do this, but thanks for it,” Gavin mused. Then he tried hiding his smile behind the bottle. He was happily sipping at the treat.  
  
“No problem, Gav,” Nines said as he scooted closer to him and then started to eat his sandwich. They stayed in a peaceful silence as they finished their respective lunches.  
  
Nines was enjoying the sounds of nature. This was a treat for him too, because he rarely if ever took a break from his hectic life to just enjoy things. Now he was here relaxing with his crush in the lovely May weather. 

Things couldn’t be more perfect. That was until all at once the calm was broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Tumblr my babes @Stujet9


	8. Sweet Child of Nines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The surprise visitors were the last people Nines (and Gavin) had expected to see that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to all my amazing readers and commenters. You guys are amazing and I love and value every single one of you!
> 
> Title song: [Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aINNWjpzjz8)

“Uncka Nines!” Nines barely had time to react as something slammed into his side. He rolled over and when he finally had time to process what the fuck was going on he opened his eyes to see the culprit that had knocked him silly. His niece, Olivia.

_“Olivia!_ What are you doing? Come back here!” Nines smiled up at his niece as he listened to Conrad as he hollered for her. Clearly unaware of who the little rascal had found.

“Well, hello Olivia. Having fun?” Nines hugged the 7-year-old as he sat up. He glanced at Gavin who looked absolutely terrified. His eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Nines was sure that underneath his ballcap his LED would be spinning red. Not a good look on him.

**“Yeah!** Even more, now that I’ve found you!” She grinned as she hugged him back hard.

Nines was absolutely thrilled. He hadn’t had a chance to see Olivia in a little over a month. He adored his nieces and nephew with his entire being. Her warm brown eyes, her freckles, and dark brown hair proved to Nines every time he saw her that things truly get better. They were just smiling at each other enjoying the surprise of seeing each other.

“Olivia! What the… _Oh,”_ Conrad said as he finally found them. 

Nines rolled his eyes looking over the head of Olivia, to see his older brother jogging up to his little picnic, “Hey, you are the last person I thought I’d see here today,” Nines greeted as he stood up, keeping Olivia wrapped in his arms. She wiggled happily and snuggled closer to him. Nines’ heart sang, he still couldn’t believe how sweet she was becoming.

“Same here. But hey for a second there I thought Olivia had tackled a random stranger,” Conrad let out a sigh and shook his head fondly.

“No, Dad you silly! I found Uncka Nines!” Olivia said turning her head upside down to look at her dad.

“I see that. You proud of yourself? You about killed him,” Conrad scolded lightly. 

Nines rolled his eyes as Olivia looked back up at him her eyes impossibility wide. Clearly believing her dad.

“I almost killed you!” She exclaimed.

“Of course not,” Nines tapped her nose, “You’d have to try harder than that.”

_“Oh,”_ She said flatly. He wasn’t sure if what she was feeling, hopefully, she wouldn’t take his advice the next time they saw each other.

“Oh my god. What the hell is going on with that girl?” Heather said from somewhere to Nines’ left, “Oh, she found Nines. Here. Of all places.” 

He turned to look at his sister-in-law, who was carrying his nephew, Collins, and slightly behind her was his other niece, Kelly. The whole family was out today. Nines took the opportunity to glance back at Gavin, who no longer looked terrified, but was clearly very confused. Just holding his empty bottle waiting for the sky to fall or something equally as crazy.

“Hello, Heather. Nice to see you,” Nines greeted as walked towards the rest of the family. Kelly’s eyes widened, and she quickly ran towards him and jumped into his arms joining Olivia. Nines was contented holding both his little nieces on his hips.

“You not hiding out at your flat or in the hospital what has gotten into you?” She playfully jabbed at him, smiling at her daughters grinning at their uncle happily wrapping him up in their arms. 

Nines gave her a crooked smiled as he jerked his head in the direction on Gavin. 

Heather’s gaze followed the motion and Nines watched as the realization dawned on her face. At first shock then the corner of her mouth crooked up.

“You’re on a date,” She stated her tone clearly displaying her disbelief. 

“Yeah, I am. But I am more than happy to see you guys,” Nines replied giving the girls he was holding a squeeze for emphasis. Kelly let out a soft squeal as she hugged him tighter in return.

Nines turned around to talk to Conrad to notice that he was currently about to engage Gavin. _Fuck._ Conrad wasn’t as Bad as Connor when it came to meddling but he was still very, very good at. Nines felt a sense of odd dread when Nines released that if he and Gavin got serious there would be a time that Gavin would have to be in the same room with the twins at the same time.

Nines rolled his eyes at Conrad and the wide-eyed Gavin and he decided he was going to let whatever Conrad was going to do happen. Nines sat down at the picnic and happily turned his attention to his nieces. He started to chat with them about their little lives. 

Heather smiled and took a seat next to Nines and put Collins on the ground next to Nines. She knew this was going to entertaining might as well have a front row seat.

Though Nines didn’t let his attention on the small Anderson Children keep him from listening in to what Conrad and Gavin were talking about.

“Hey, sorry about that. Olivia is a wild one. When she bolted this way didn’t expect her to find her Uncle and take him out all the while interrupting his date,” Conrad explained to Gavin who was still staring wide-eyed at Conrad. When he finally spoke up, Nines finally understood Gavin’s clear confusion.

“I wasn’t aware you had children, Detective Anderson? Or that you were married for that matter,” Gavin said glancing towards Nines, who couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. 

Gavin thought Conrad was Connor. Though he wasn’t the first and wasn’t going to be the last. 

When the laugh faded Nines felt a little confused Gavin knew about Conrad. _Didn’t he?_ Yeah, he did. Nines was certain that he’d talked about him at least in passing. But maybe he had missed the detail about Connor and Conrad being identical twins. _Oops._

_“Holy shit,”_ Conrad laughed and turned towards Nines, “He’s met Connor but not _me?_ I'm hurt,  _Richard.”_

Nines felt his cheeks heat, because of the implication and the use of his first name. He felt scolded. Even though the only reason Gavin knew Connor was because they were both employed by the DPD, but it's not like he could tell him that. Nines knew it would get back to Connor and then it would be out that he was courting an android. 

Gavin’s eyebrows scrunched together further, still not able to put the pieces together. 

“Well, if it makes you feel any better Connor has no idea about any of this,” Nines said quickly. Though it was a definite lie, Connor knew about Gavin, and Gavin knew Connor. But didn’t have enough of the truth to put the pieces together. It would be impressive even for Detective Connor Anderson to put together that the GV200 Police EMT was Gavin the EMT that Nines had a crush on. Though, it surprised Nines that Connor hadn’t already called his twin and tattled about their little brother having a potential love interest.

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” Conrad put his hand on his hip in clear disbelief.

Then before Nines could defend himself, Olivia bodily threw herself out of his hold. It knocked him off balance and Kelly made a noise of protest, sounding as disgruntled as a 4-year-old could. Nines shuffled back his balance and bounced Kelly to calm her. Conrad smiled, clearly knowing that his daughter was up to the best kind of mischief.

Nines felt his eyes widened as he realized what she was doing. She was charging Gavin. _Oh, please don’t knock off his hat._  

Gavin stiffed and held on to his hat and prepare himself for impact. Surprisingly, Olivia politely took a seat next to him. Gavin smiled lightly at the small girl. 

“Are you my Uncka’s,” Olivia paused and leaned in close, as if she was telling a secret, “boyfriend?” 

Gavin’s cheeks turned a light blue, but it was clear that he was training his reaction to the question, not wanting to give away the fact he was an android with something as simple as a blue blush.

Nines felt his own ears heat, they hadn’t had _that_ conversation yet, and here it was provoked by a nosy 7-year-old. 

Gavin leaned in close, making a dramatic effort of looking around, Olivia who was absolutely enthralled with the display.

“You could say that,” Gavin whispered into her ear and then Olivia let out a squeal. 

Conrad was outwardly laughing now, clearly pleased with the adorable display. 

Nines, on the other hand, felt his heart sore. He had no idea the weight of Gavin telling his niece that they were dating was. But his heart was currently taking it at face value. 

“That’s good,” Olivia declared as she stood up and marched back over to where Nines and her mother were sitting and started to share the news with Collins and her mom.

Gavin just smiled as he watched her totter away. He looked up and glanced between Nines and Conrad. Then Gavin decided he needed to break the silence, “I’m just going to say it,” He shook his head as his finally stood up, _“I’m really phcking confused.”_  

Nines opened his mouth to explain the whole situation, but Conrad beat him to it. As he did often.

“Well, you see,” Conrad started but stopped abruptly, waving his hand in a frustrated motion, “I don’t know your name. Nines you really suck at this.”

“This is Gavin,” Nines supplied helpfully, beating Gavin to whatever potentially rude thing he was going to say, given by the look on his face.

“Okay, Gavin. So, I’m assuming you’ve met our brother, Connor, and have to my great insult have confused me with him.” Gavin’s face continued to turn down into a more confused scowl. Conrad ignored it and stuck his hand out for Gavin to take, “I’m Conrad Seth Anderson. Connor’s identical twin brother. Answer your questions?” 

Gavin glanced between Conrad and Nines looking for confirmation, and Nines shrugged. Then out of nowhere, Gavin burst out laughing. The sound rough and hearty, but it was music to Nines’ ears.

_“Conrad!_ Okay, _that_ makes sense! Nines never mentioned that you and Connor were twins!” Gavin looked relieved all the puzzle pieces falling into place. 

_“Aha!_ So, you do know of me!” Conrad declared triumphantly, “Glad to know that Turtleneck still talks about me.”

“Yeah, he talks about both you of you quite a bit. Though he never mentioned the little ones. Man, I never would have guessed. I thought I had found the phcking twilight zone. Imagine Detective Anderson with kids,” Gavin shuddered and finally took Conrad’s hand and shook it. The movement a little robotic. But Conrad had no idea Gavin was an android. And Gavin seemed more and human every second that passed.

“Yeah, Connor having kids would be literal hell. He’s a useless, dumpster fire who can barely care for himself, but man, do I love that asshole,” Conrad elbowed Gavin playfully. 

“Yeah, I can see that,” Gavin muttered, clearly unsure of how to continue. 

Nines decided he finally needed to intervene, “So,” Nines said quietly, as Kelly had fallen asleep in his arms, “I’m glad you got to meet my boyfriend, even under such interesting circumstances. But it’s nice to see you guys.”

“You too, Nines. I’m glad you’re finally dating again,” Conrad threw a thumb towards Gavin, “Not to mention he’s nice looking. I also appreciate the fact you managed to find a man that much shorter than you. Holy shit, what is he… A whole foot shorter than you?” 

Gavin balked a little and aimed an annoyed look to Conrad, who was also a bit taller than the android.

Nines chuckled lowly, “I’m glad you pointed that out. I wouldn’t have noticed.” Nines smiled at Gavin trying to soften the blow, but he ended sounding a lot like sarcasm. Maybe it was.

Conrad laughed at that and turned around on his heel to look at Nines directly, “Well, it’s been fantastic seeing you, but I’m going to let you get back your date while Olivia is still distracted. Let’s make some plans to see each other again here soon.” 

“We should,” Nines replied as he softly handed the still snoozing Kelly back to her dad, “But I’m still going to say goodbye to Olivia and give Collins a kiss.” Conrad shrugged as he started towards Heather.

Nines gave a soft smile to Gavin as he turned towards his family. Olivia saw him and ran up to him again.

“Hey, Uncka Nines?”

“Yes, little miss?”

“You should come over sometime and play in the sand with me.”

“Of course, I will.”

“Okay, Promise?” She stuck her pinky out, asking for the ultimate promise. 

Nines took it with his own pinky, “I promise.”

“Good. Well Mom says we need to go home, and you need to get back to your boyfriend,” She stated as she started to wiggle in his arms again. 

Nines set her down, preventing her from vaulting down, “Yeah, I do. I love you, little miss,” He gave her a hug. 

Olivia grinned up at him, smile impossibly wide, _“I love you too, Uncka Nines!”_ She declared as she pulled out of the hug. 

Heather smiled as she joined Nines again, “You know, he’s handsome, but you do seem to have a type,” Heather mindlessly muttered as he handed Collins over to Nines. 

The reminder and realization hit Nines like a freight train and he flinched. Bringing his up his ex was quite uncouth. 

_“I didn’t notice,”_ Nines said his tone flat as he bounced Collins around for a moment, making him giggle. Collins was still pretty young, not even two yet. So, Nines was content with the short visit. Not to mention Collins was deaf so there was only so much communication they could right now since they were both still learning sign language.

“Heh, didn’t think so,” Heather smiled as she took Collins back. Clearly oblivious to Nines newfound discomfort. “If things lift off okay with him, you should bring him over for dinner. He seems like he would be good with the kiddos.” 

Nines forced a breath out from between his teeth, effectively calming himself. He knew Heather didn’t mean anything by those words, she was a nice woman.

“I will do so if it all works out. But hopefully I’ll try to stop by before then,” Nines made the promise lightly. He frowned slightly, he always made time for Connor. He really needed to start making time for Conrad and his family. He loved the kids so much but they were a little harder to please with short sporadic visits than their other uncle. 

“That’s good. Now, get out of here. We’ve interrupted your date enough,” Heather said with a playful shove. 

Nines rolled his eyes as he said his farewells to her. He walked up to where Conrad was corralling Olivia.

“It was nice to get to see you,” Nines said to his brother and wrapped him into a hug.

“Yeah, you’re a brat with you hiding out all the time, but I guess it’s nice to see you too,” Conrad grinned, crooked and cheeky.

“Yeah, yeah. See you soon. I’ve left Gavin waiting long enough,” Nines said with a playfully dismissive wave.

Then he was finally walking back to his abandoned picnic and date. He sat down and smiled sheepishly at Gavin, who honestly still looked a little flabbergasted. 

“Well, you have now met Conrad and his family,” Nines supplied into the silence. He glanced over his shoulder to throw one more wave in their direction as they walked in the opposite direction. Earning one last wave from Olivia.

“It seems so,” Gavin started to stretch, but quickly aborted the motion with a quirked eyebrow, “Conrad really does look like Connor, but upon further investigation, I’ve noted he has fewer freckles and moles and is a significantly healthier state than his twin.”

“Sounds about right, also Connor is a tad shorter,” Nines added. 

Gavin chuckled while messing with his hat, “I had that ranked in the healthier area.” 

“Fair enough,” Nines muttered.

Nines found it endearing as he watched for a moment. Then he remembered the comment Gavin had made to Olivia. He had to ask.

“Did you mean anything by what you said to Olivia?” Nines asked, trying to sound casual, but his voice showed his interest anyway. Not to mention he probably had red cheeks. 

Gavin’s face flushed, _“I think so,”_ He said cryptically, staring down at the ground as if it had all the answers, “I’m not really sure how any of this stuff works. I’m not supposed to feel anything, and yet all my biocomponents are warm and filled with instabilities. I’m not supposed to want anything, but here I am, wanting nothing more than, to hope, you feel the same way? It’s all a big phcking mess up in my CPU and I don’t even know where to start.” His eyes looked glassy and they were so sincere as he locked eyes with Nines.

Nines couldn’t believe what he had just heard. But the disbelief could wait. Nines couldn’t stand how upset Gavin looked and all over something as small as having feelings and wants. But Nines also knew those things were a huge deal to someone who wasn’t programmed to have them. He’d lived with and around Connor for 26 years after all.

“Gavin,” Nines started sort of unsure of what to say, “I really do mean it when I say I like you as much as I do.” Gavin frowned, and Nines was suddenly very insecure about where this was going.

_“That makes me happy?”_ Gavin said slowly a smile finally overtaking his face. Then without thinking anymore Nines reached forward and took that smiling face into his hands. Relished in the texture of the android’s artificial stubble and soft skin. 

Gavin leaned into the touch and that was it. 

Nines leaned forward and connected their lips. The kiss was light and barely there as Nines pulled back. Smiling despite himself, his heart was going a million miles a minute. There was a nasty mess of butterflies in his stomach. 

Gavin’s face had gone completely slack and his LED was spinning a worrisome yellow from where it peaked from under his hat.

_Oh, shit was he broken?_ Nines thought in a panic.

Neither of them reacted for several moments until all at once Gavin burst into motion. Slamming himself bodily into Nines, who in turn let out a grunt. They fell to the ground knocking over some of the picnic supplies in the process.

Nines feared for a brief moment that Gavin was going to kill him or something crazy until he felt strong arms wrap around his shoulders. 

Nines rolled his eyes as he wrapped his own arms around Gavin. Letting out a nervous breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. They laid on the ground for several minutes just wrapped in each other’s embrace.

“How does an android even go about dating a human?” Gavin said breaking the silence and burying his face into Nines’ neck. 

Nines pulled them both up into a sitting position, the smaller man shifted so he could keep his face hidden. Though Nines could still see that the other’s ears were tinted blue.

“I don’t know,” Nines said quietly, “But I’m guessing we could try to figure it out?” 

Gavin pulled away and looked Nines directly into his eyes. A small smile gracing his lips. Then he reached out and touched Nines’ face, mimicking what the larger man had done just a few minutes ago. 

The touch was so tender that Nines’ breath caught in his throat.

“I think I’d like to,” Gavin finally said as he pulled Nines into a kiss. This time it lasted a little longer and their lips moved softly together, still gracing something chaste. 

Nines was over the moon. This was everything he’d been dreaming of for the last month. They stared into each other’s eyes, enjoying the perfection of this moment. 

Gavin spoke first, “Ya know, thanks for inviting me out. I’m… _excited?_ To see where this could lead.” 

Nines planted another small kiss onto Gavin’s smiling mouth, “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! it wasn't as bad as you guys thought it would be! 
> 
> Also, I have these guys drawn out. Here check out their designs  
> [Click here!](https://stujet9.tumblr.com/post/179298732149/i-really-liked-my-reed900-traditional-drawing-so-i)


	9. Shacking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for being awesome guys!
> 
> Also, here's a shout out to the awesome huffflefuck! You're fantastic :D

Nines was looking down at a patient’s clipboard, noting the changes in her status. The girl Gavin had brought in had finally stabilized enough to talk to. She had come out of her medically induced coma yesterday morning.

Nines knew what conversation he was going to be having. According to her paperwork, the hospital had been unable to find and contact her parents or guardians. He was ready for the potential, _‘do you have a home’_ conversation.

It wouldn’t be the first time and it won’t be the last. Heaven knows the other nurses and doctors pawn this specific task onto Nines. He’s good at it. Not to mention the kids relate to him since he doesn’t have his parents either. Detroit wasn’t the best city, kids were left alone, parents didn’t care, or there was simply no one left. Nines understood that better than most of the people that he worked with. He was well informed by his life experiences and by the stories Conrad and Connor told him about what they encountered at work.

Nines placed his hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath and finally pushed open the door. The young girl was quietly watching TV when Nines first entered the room. Though, her attention quickly shifted to him as the door clicked shut behind him. She was starting to look much better, most of the severe bruising had faded and the amount of tape and gauze on her was dwindling. Her skin was still a patchy red and she had casts on both her legs and her left arm.

“Hello, Hannah,” Nines smiled warmly at her, “I’m Nurse Richard Anderson, but you can call me Nines.” She looked at him curiously as he grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it to the end of her bed and sat in it backward.

“How do you get Nines out of Richard? Why don’t you just go by _Dick?”_ Hannah asked, her voice scratchy from disuse, but her eyes sparkled with humor.

Nines made a show out of rolling his eyes, but he still chuckled. She thought she was _so_ clever and if she was making jokes, she was at least recovering to some degree mentally. Though her very reasoning was why he had found another nickname. He hated being called Dick. _Who didn’t?_

“I really don’t like being called Richard or Dick for that matter. So, I needed to come up with a creative nickname. My middle name is Niles, but that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. So, I marked it off the list. But Nines, in the end, came from my brothers. They were big on spy movies, so we were playing a secret agent game and we had to come up with code names. We came up with 51, 60, and 900. Mine was 900. We kept those code names for a long time, but mine was eventually shortened to Nines and it’s stuck ever since.” Nines told her, almost in autopilot considering the number of times he had told that story before.

“That’s cute, name fits you well,” Hannah said after much thought.

“Thank you,” Nines smiled, but knew he needed to talk to her about what he came in here for, “So, Hannah. How are you feeling?”

The sparkle Hannah had in her eyes disappeared as she let her head roll back onto the pillow to stare up at the ceiling, _“I’m alive,_ but I’m not sure if I’m happy about that yet or not, Doc Nines,” She droned out, but at least the words felt honest.

“We’ll simply stick with ‘alive,’ then?” Nines smiled back at her and waved his pen around for emphasis.

“Yeah, my status is alive.”

Nines felt those words twinge somewhere inside his chest. This part never got easier, “Fair enough,” Nines swallowed, “So Hannah, we haven’t been able to find anything about your legal guardians. Is there anyone you need us to contact?”

_“No,”_ She spat the word out, and looked directly into Nines’ eyes, “Fam’s all dead, have been for a while. Been being looked after by Eri- the family android since my folks finally kicked the bucket.” She blinked rapidly, trying to ward away the tears. _“He was all I had_ , and he took really good care of me. But then he got broken. I had nothing left after that.”

The explanation for no family and to her attempted suicide were all contained in those three sentences. Nines moved his chair a little closer to her and he handed her a box of tissues. Giving her a small reassuring smile.

Hannah took the tissues appreciatively. They stayed in a soft silence as she let tears escape her eyes quietly. When she was finally able to calm down, she gave Nines the tissues back.

“Hey, Hannah?” Nines asked.

Hannah grunted as her response.  

Nines took that as permission to continue, “I’m sorry to hear about your family and your android. We’re going to get you somewhere safe, but for right now we need you here for a few more days, is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Hannah’s tone was bitter, but it was more tired than anything else, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything, shoot,” Nines said automatically.

“Can I thank the android that saved me?” She asked.

The question caught Nines completely off guard. Gavin would honestly be thrilled to talk to the girl, he’d been worried about her.

“I’m sorry if that’s weird, or if you can’t do it that’s fine, too,” she added in a hurry, misunderstanding Nines’ surprise.

“You can absolutely speak with the GV200, his name is Gavin. I’ll just need to give him a call,” Nines replied quickly, letting the girl have her wish. Nines had a sneaking suspicion that the android that cared for her was deviant, which made this all the more sad.

“Thanks,” Hannah leaned back into her pillow, “One more question. Am I going to become a ward of the state?”

“There is a possibility,” Nines sighed, “But right now, you worry about getting better, okay? We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Nines smiled as he pulled out his cell phone, he had Gavin’s contact saved for a while, but dialing this time felt odd. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes with Gavin.”

“Okay, thanks,” Hannah gave a small smile. But Nines’ could tell she was thrilled. She probably expected a ‘no’ as his response.

Nines waved his way off. Once he was on the other side of the door he was greeted by another nurse.

“What’s the status on her guardians?” She said, straight to the point.

“She doesn’t know,” Nines said as he put the chart back into its plastic bin.

“Of course, she doesn’t. I’ll start contacting the correct authorities, right after I check on her,” She mumbled as she grabbed the charts and walked into Hannah’s room.

Nines groaned as he dialed Gavin. He had no idea why he was compelled to lie, but he did.

Gavin picked up on the first ring, but then again it must be hard to ignore the phone inside of his head, “Hey, Nines. What’s up?” Gavin’s tone was soft, a voice he saved only for Nines.

“Hey, Gav. You remember the girl you brought in a while ago?” Nines asked quickly hoping he didn’t have to elaborate.

There was a pause, “Yeah, she’s okay, right?” Gavin’s tone was worried.

_Oh,_ Gavin thought Nines was delivering the worst news.

“Of course, she woke up yesterday. I went in to talk to her, and she asked if she could tell you thank you for saving her,” Nines said quietly. He wasn’t sure if he could technically do this, but who was going to stop him?

_“She wants to thank the android who saved her?_ ” Gavin parroted, clearly not believing him.

“Yeah. After the last person in her family passed, she was being taken care of by her family’s android. Or at least she _was_ until he was broken,” Nines mumbled, keeping his voice down. Nines knew personally that people really could care about androids. But those people were definitely in the minority.

“Okay, I’ll come to see her, be there in a few minutes. I’ll have to drive, but I’m already on the road, so it shouldn’t be too long,” Gavin rambled.

“Okay. Give me a call when you get here. She’s in 203, I’ll meet you at the door,” Nines informed.

“Okay, Nines. See you soon,” There was a pause, but before Nines could say his own goodbyes, Gavin spoke again, _“I miss you.”_

Nines couldn’t help the blush that lit up his cheeks and that quickly spread to his ears and neck. _God, he was so far gone._

“I miss you too, Gavin. I’ll see you in a few,” Nines said his voice shaking despite his best efforts to keep it level. _Wow._

“Okay, bye.” And with that, the line went dead.

Nines slowly pulled the phone from his ear and pocketed it. He then tried to wipe the color from his face.

“You know, you should take personal calls in the break room,” A voice called from behind him, and in the most un-Nines like the way he jumped.

_“Jesus Carol!_ You scared the hell out of me,” Nines muttered as he turned around to see his Co-head nurse.

Carol tried to keep her face turned down but he could see her lips twitching, “That’s a first!” She said finally snickering, “Who the hell has you morphing into a tomato?"

_“Excuse me?”_ Nines croaked out, scandalized.

Carol continued to snicker as she put her hand on the small of his back, guiding them to the aforementioned breakroom.

Nines frowned as he let himself be led away. He knew he was going to get a brief talking to. But it seemed only fair since he had given Carol this same talk before.

“You heard me,” Carol spoke as they turned the corner and then walked into the breakroom.

“Yeah, doesn’t make my surprise any less prudent,” Nines basically growled.

**_“You’re_** _surprised? What about **me?**_ The last thing I expected was seeing you standing off to the side of a hallway all red-faced and whispering into a phone,” Carol crossed her arms, “it’s out of character and not to mention against protocol.”

_“Against protocol?_ That was a business call,” Nines let the words fall out in an effort to defend himself, not understanding the implications of what he said until he seen Carol’s eyes widen into saucers.

_“Oh, **fuck** no,”_ Carol gasped, “You better not be shacking up with another one of the nurses!”

Nines stiffened. He did not intend to walk into this, “I’m not ‘shacking up’ with anyone!” Nines’ voice betrayed him as it cracked.

Carol was eating this up, and Nines frankly hated it. It’s not like he could be honest with her anyway. Gavin would be deactivated, and Nines would probably lose his job and maybe even go to jail. Though, Connor would get a kick out of that one.

For the first time since he kissed Gavin just last Saturday, he felt that telltale fear prickling under his skin. He felt like he needed to throw up. He knew this would be a problem, but he didn’t expect it to happen so soon. _Goddamnit._

Carol’s face softened ever so slightly, clearly noticing Nines’ barely contained panic.

“What the hell is up with you, _Richard?_ And I’m going to need the whole story because you know I’m not a complete bitch and if you tell me what’s _really_ going on between you and this mystery man that apparently works here, I could possibly overlook it. You know, like that one time you did that for me.

If Nines was being completely honest with himself, Carol and him were friends and got along quite nicely. They’d been working as the head nurses for the last two years. She was a little older than him, and honestly wasn’t nearly as high strung as himself. But Nines knew well enough he had to keep his secret to himself. Now, he just had to fabricate a lie, one that would stick.

_“Uh?_ He’s not a nurse,” Was all Nines managed to supply, which wasn’t even a lie, t _echnically._

“Well, then I can let this slip, on a professional level at least. I only care if you’re trying to get with one of our underlings,” Carol sighed, Nines wasn’t sure if it was from frustration or relief, “I figured you wouldn’t do that. If the sentiment counts for anything.”

“Yeah, it does,” Nines sighed heavily, running a hand down his face, “I thought you were going to write me up.”

Carol rolled her eyes, and released a halfhearted laugh, “Honestly, even if I did no one would take it seriously. _Come on,_ who would believe that the stoic, all business Head Nurse Richard “Nines” Anderson would be sleeping with someone working here? I’d would have had caught you naked in a broom closet and have photographic evidence to get anywhere with it,” Carol said and then started snickering, at the sheer mortified look on Nines’ face.

“Listen, Carol, _please,_ don’t let this get around,” Nines placed his hands lightly on her shoulders to emphasize how much he needed her to respect this.

_“Oh hell,_ you’ve got it bad,” Carol looked at him directly, “I’m taking an informed shot into the dark, but I’m guessing you’ve not even acted on this, have you?”

Nines looked away and decided to take that as his lie. He was just fawning after someone. That would a be an easy one to follow through with, “Yeah, sorry I…” Nines was going to fabricate a story, but at that moment his phone decided to ring. Nines fumbled for it. _Gavin._ He must have arrived. “It’s important. I have to take this,” Nines informed as he pressed the accept button.

“Anderson,” Nines said into the receiver, trying to not sound too formal, but failing miserably.

_“Nines?_ Are you okay? I’m up at the room, 203, correct?” Gavin’s voice came over the receiver softly.

“I’m fine. Be up there in a moment, bye” Nines said quickly as he clicked the end call button. He looked over his shoulder to see if Carol had followed him. She hadn’t, “Thank god,” Nines whispered.

Gavin was standing by Hannah’s room twiddling his thumbs. He looked a little downcast, which was strange on the normally scowling android.

“Hello, Gavin,” Nines greeted, letting the smile he reserved for Gavin return. The relief that washed across the android’s face was a breath of fresh air.

“Hey, Nines,” Gavin grinned back, “I’m here to meet the girl I saved, Hannah, if I remember correctly, which I do.”

Nines chuckled as he grabbed her charts from the plastic bin. Hannah wasn’t due for another check in for another hour it seemed. Perfect.

“I’m glad. Let me go in ahead of you and let her know you’re here,” Nines stated as he grabbed the door handle but paused for a moment, “Hey, Gav. I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What’s that?” Gavin asked as he looked up at his human.

Nines glanced around and leaned in close to Gavin’s ear.

Gavin’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and a blush graced his cheeks.

“See if you can find out what happened to her android and where he could be,” Nines asked in a whisper and as soon as the words left his mouth he stood up straight.

Gavin didn’t respond for a second, then he blinked once and nodded, “I can do that,” Gavin answered with his usual confidence.

“Thank you,” Nines beamed down at him, “Let me go in ahead of you, okay?”

“Sure,” Gavin replied with another nod. Then Nines opened the door to Hannah’s room.

“Hey, Hannah. I’ve brought you a visitor,” Nines beamed in her direction. He felt a burst of pride in his chest for his android. He turned to the door briefly and waved Gavin in, who looked slightly bashful under his default android expression.

_“Oh!_ You really did come to see me. You’re the android that saved me!” Hannah exclaimed as she pointed in their direction.

Nines tried to look disinterested as he walked over to check the various medical equipment in the room.

“Yup, that’s me,” Gavin said, “I’m the EMT police prototype GV200. My name is Gavin.”

“Nice, I’m Hannah. I know it may be weird, but I wanted to thank you for saving me,” Hannah said her voice strained, attempting to hide the number of emotions filling her.

Nines was jotting down her vitals as his phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket. **EMERGENCY,** the screen declared loudly _._ He was needed back in the trauma unit. With that, he was bolting out the door without a word leaving his android with the human he had saved. Sometimes Gavin made him forget the urgency of working in an Emergency Room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Carol and Nines' interactions. 
> 
> Sorry for the misleading title XD


	10. A Sadness Runs Through Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again at Windy Blues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you guys!
> 
> Also slight trigger warning for medical references and slightly graphic descriptions of surgery on an android.
> 
> Title song: [The Hoosiers - A Sadness Runs Through Him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6WWrHaejc)

Nines had his hands tucked in the pockets of his pea coat as he stared at the scene before him. The room was in complete disarray, there were signs of a heavy struggle. Thirium would probably be coating much of the disheveled living room if it didn’t disappear after such a short time. There in the middle of the mess was a shutdown domestic android. Erick was his name he learned from Hannah, well indirectly he’d learned it from Gavin.

Nines took the information Gavin had given him to go find this android. His plan was to fix him and reunite the small, broken family. Looking at him now Nines wasn’t so sure he could, but it was worth a shot. He braced himself as he picked up the broken android and turned to go to his car.

Nines gently laid the android in the back seat and covered him with a blanket. He leaned up against the car and pulled out a smoke. Lighting the cigarette with disdain, he took a drag and sighed it out.

_What the literal fuck had he gotten himself into?_ Nines had seen some terrible things over the years, like people who walk into the ER holding their own organs in with their hands. People hopeless and distraught, anguish written on their faces, deep enough to never fully fade. But seeing how broken that android was while laying discarded in an empty house, no one caring if he rotted away. That burned in a way Nines hadn’t felt before.

Nines was masking that burn with the one in his lungs as he finished off his cigarette. He threw the dead butt onto the ground and pulled up his phone and dialed Lucky and Wendy, knowing damn well he was going to need help.

“Hello?” Lucky’s telltale voice crackle across the line.

“Hello, Lucky. It’s Nines. I’m going to need some help with something,” Nines said, his tone rough from the cigarette and barely masked anguish.

_“Oh?”_ Lucky remarked, “With what?”

“Reactivating a damaged domestic android,” Nines said it plainly, “If we can, I’m not comfortable with something this advanced on my own quite.”

“Ah, come on over. I’ll get the supplies ready. What’s your ETA?” Lucky said, and Nines could already hear her moving stuff around.

“Probably around 20 minutes, depending on traffic and the sort,” Nines muttered, rubbing a hand down his face.

“Okay, that should be fine, I’ll be ready by then.”

“Good, see you then.”

“You too,” Lucky finished up the conversation and hung up.

Nines wanted another cigarette and for once he indulged in the second. Then he was on the road to Windy Blues.

Around twenty-five minutes later Nines walked into the back door of the coffee shop with the broken android completely hidden in a blanket.

“Hello, Nines,” Lucky greeted, giving the blanket a grim expression, “Set them down on the table, let’s see what we can do.”

Nines did as he was told without so much as a word. The blanket fell off revealing the horrors of exposed biocomponents and white chassis where the skin had been deactivated and unable to reform. There were a few moments of stunned silence as he watched Lucky scan the android.

“He’s been pretty fucked up, but his memory core seems to be intact. So, with the right amount of effort, we should be able to bring him back,” Lucky said breaking the silence.

Nines nodded, that’s what he wanted to hear. He walked up to the android, “Come on let’s get started.”

With that Lucky walked up next to Nines and opened the android’s stomach and chest panels. Then she stuffed her hands into the metal and wire guts

Nines turned around and looked around for a compatible left arm unit. He had to do a lot of matching as he staked out the correct number. After a few moments, he found one and pulled it from the racking. 

“Is this the right one?” Nines held the arm out for Lucky to scan.

“No, it’s the left one,” Lucky said dryly, and Nines gave her an unimpressed look, “Wow, tough crowd. Yeah, it’s the _correct_ one. Go disconnect the broken one and throw it in the bin,” Lucky said after she spared a glance in his direction.

Nines nodded and walked to the table, putting the replacement arm down. Pulling on a pair of gloves, no reason to develop bad habits just because he was working on androids. Then he grabbed a hex key set and got to work removing the broken arm. He was still getting used to how smooth the exposed plastic on the android was, but he could still pull far more similarities to humans than differences. It was almost chilling, but he knew the man who made these machines personally and the attention to detail didn’t surprise him.

When there was a soft click signaling the arm was no longer attached, Nines removed it slowly and placed it in the bin that Lucky had pointed out. Then he prepped the socket and started to connect the new arm unit.

“You know it still amazes me at how good you are at this,” Lucky mused as she took her hands out to grab some new wires from a shelf on the other side of the room.

“I work on humans all the time,” Nines stated, “I thought I had already mentioned that?”

“You did, but humans are pretty different than androids, so I’m impressed by how well you’ve adapted,” Lucky grinned as she placed the wire spool down and got a pair of cutters and a wire stripper. Then once again put her hands into the androids exposed innards.

Nines let out a soft hum as the arm clicked signaling its successful reattachment, “I really don’t see much of a difference between us,” Nines shrugged and set his task on replacing the left leg next. “I mean we bleed a different color, but we still bleed, and I think that’s what counts. I have bones and you have plastic bracing. But we all need fixing sometimes and that’s what I do. I fix broken people.”

“You have a heart of gold,” Lucky said softly.

Nines let out a scoff, “I wouldn’t go that far. I’m an Anderson after all,” Nines knew she wouldn’t know what that meant, but it still left a sour feeling in the air.

“Eh, whatever you say, I like you and that’s saying something.”

“Thank you,” Nines smiled at her then he went back to work.

It took two solid hours to complete the reconstruction of Erick. Which was a little longer than he had planned for because he still had to show up for his evening/night shift. Which was part of his plan, but he really should have planned a little better. But now all they had to do was replace the Thirium and reconnect the main wire and he should be up and running again. Nines had the Thirium and Lucky was ready with the wire.

“Come on, pour the Thirium down his throat,” Lucky instructed, and Nines made a face. “It won’t hurt him, go on now.”

Nines braced himself as he took the blood baggie of Thirium and poured it down the android’s throat. Then after he poured the second bag, Lucky motioned for him to stop.

“Okay, get ready. I’m going to reconnect this last wire. Expect him to freak out, it’ll take him a moment to catch up with what’s going on.” Lucky stopped and pulled her hands out of Erick’s chest, “Oh, and real quick! Please, go ask Wendy to heat up some sweet Thirium. It’ll help him calm down and raise his levels to the proper amount. I’ll wait,” Lucky said in a rush.

Nines took off his gloves as he walked out into the coffee shop. He noted there were a couple patrons milling around. He glanced towards the front end of the store and noticed Wendy was humming as she worked on clearing out a bean grinder. He glanced down at himself to see if he had anything on him that would give him away. There wasn’t any. He stepped out and closed the door behind him and walked to where Wendy was working.

Wendy smiled brightly at Nines as he approached her. Then that haunting sense of familiarity slammed into him again. _She’s a fucking Chloe model!_

Nines felt his chest constrict and he faltered in his steps. Wendy’s dark green eyes and her short strawberry hair had fooled him. He suddenly couldn’t breathe as well as he had been able to a moment ago. Then he quickly shoved everything he was feeling back down. He couldn’t afford to have a complete breakdown in the middle of a fucking coffee shop over something so utterly _stupid._ He was totally over that, it didn’t matter anymore.

“What can I do for you?” Wendy asked with her usual excitement but there was a light edge of concern.

“Can you heat up some sweet 310 for me?” Nines said as level as he could manage.

“Of course,” She bounced past him into the back. She smiled as she gestured for him to follow her.

Nines had to force his feet to move, but he succeeded. When he passed the threshold to the storage room, he quickly shut the door behind him. He looked up just in time to see Wendy give Lucky a kiss. He felt his lips twitch upwards. His suspicions were confirmed, and it was absolutely adorable.

Wendy seemed to notice that Nines had seen them, and her face tinted a light blue. Then she quickly went over to a weird machine that looked like a coffee machine on steroids. She went to work on preparing a batch of Sweet Thirium.

Nines smiled lightly as he walked over to where Lucky was, and glanced down to the inactive android, “We ready?” He inquired softly.

“Yeah, step back,” Lucky barely gave him a moment before she moved quickly and reconnected those wires. She jumped back as the stomach panel slammed shut and Erick’s eyes flew open. He took a gasping breath, that Nines knew he didn’t need. Then just as Lucky had predicted earlier he flipped out.

_“Wha?”_ He squeaked, his voice flickering from robotic to humanoid as his unused voice box started back up. _“Where am I? Where’s Hannah? **Oh, god!”**_ His hands went to his face and cupped it in his panic.

Nines was at his side in an instant, his instincts and years of training taking over, “Hey, Erick. You’re at Windy Blues, and we just reactivated you. You’re okay now. I’m Nines and I’m here to take you back to Hannah,” Nines said in the most soothing voice he could muster.

Erick met his eyes and they were so full of hope, it made Nines’ chest hurt, “You’re going to take me back to my Hannah? She’s okay, _right?”_ Nines tried to keep his expression neutral.

“Well, she had a scare and ended up in the hospital, but she’s okay now, I promise. I checked on her just this morning,” Nines answered. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder as Wendy handed him a coffee mug filled with blue liquid, “Here this is for you.” Nines offered the drink to Erick who took it appreciatively, Nines knew the android’s Thirium levels were still low.

Erick took a small sip then a much bigger gulp and quickly finished off the warm liquid, “Okay, wow. _I’m alive?”_ He said handing the mug back to Nines, who in turn just put it on the floor beside him.

“Yeah, you are. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise everything is going to be okay,” Lucky finally interjected throwing a blanket over Erick’s shoulders.

“Yeah, how did you guys find me and get me fixed up?” Erick asked, gripping the blanket like it was the only piece of reality he had left.

“Hannah was saved by my android and she thanked him for it and told him about you and where you probably were,” Nines shrugged, “I took the incentive to see if I could find and repair you and bring you two back together.”

“As for the fixing you up part, I do that a lot as you can tell by the room you’re currently in,” Lucky added to Nines’ explanation.

“That’s a lot to take in,” Erick mused, then locked eyes with Nines, “You said that you were planning on getting me back to Hannah how did you plan on doing that? Because I’d like it if we could do that as soon as possible.”

“My plan was to get you fixed up and after that, ask you to remove your LED and have you pose as her dad. I work at the hospital she’s at and I can assure you we don’t have any records on her parents and all I would have to do is sign some of her paperwork approving you to release her,” Nines explained trying to go slow, but Erick still looked overwhelmed.

“You want me to act like I’m a human?” Erick said clearly flabbergasted.

“Yes, you are fully awake and alive, so it shouldn’t be hard, and I think the technical differences don’t really matter. I know you’ll be able to take care of Hannah and that’s all I need,” Nines explained.

Erick seemed to consider his words for a few moments, then nodded, “I’ll do it,” He nodded again, firmer this time, “I’ll do anything to take care of Hannah.”

“Good,” Nines said as he handed another thing of Thirium to him, “That’s all I need to hear. Let’s get you ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank again for reading commenting, y'all are the literal best people in the whole world :D
> 
> Also, I have been posting the chapters a little early and some sneak peeks and other things if you guys want to go support me on Patreon. Just type in Stujet9rainshine and you'll find me and my telltale Snoopy icon.


	11. Partners in Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sweet reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays!
> 
> Title Song: [Set it Off - Patners in Crime](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxRpUIsk8p0)

When Nines was finally walking out of the back of Wendy Blues. Now with a completely repaired Erick in tow, he felt accomplished. It was a familiar feeling, one he often felt after releasing a patient from the hospital after a long road to recovery. It made him happy that he had gained the skills to properly repair deviants. Which, according to Lucky, is a skill that less than a dozen humans currently have. 

Nines spared a glance at the domestic android, he observed there were no notable differences between him and any other human. His LED was nowhere to be seen and he was wearing a t-shirt, a loose jacket, and a pair of blue jeans. He just looked like a tired and depressed 30-year-old. He was nothing more than a single dad who had just found out about his teenage daughter’s attempted suicide.

“How are you feeling?” Nines asked as they climbed into Nines’ Jetta.

“I’m a little nervous about this whole thing,” Erick shrugged, “but I’m happy to be able to see her again.”

“Yeah,” Nines said as he put the car into gear, “I can understand that.” 

During the ride to the hospital, Nines once again filled Erick in on all the details on the plan of action.

Erick nodded along solemnly, completely understanding the importance of everything going flawlessly. 

Nines finally pulled into the parking lot. He looked at the hospital in a way he hadn’t in a long time. He sighed as he turned the car off. He pulled his shoulders back and looked at Erick and gave him an encouraging half smile. But he was sure it probably looked sour. 

Erick didn’t seem to mind and smiled back, and it made Nines’ chest ache unwarrantedly. It made him briefly wonder what his own life would have been like if an android had replaced his own parents. He frowned down at his steering wheel, he didn’t have the time nor the need for such thoughts. He composed himself quickly and looked up at Erick one more time.

“Okay, so my shift starts in around 20 minutes and that means I need you to wait about 45 minutes before you come in, or I can’t take care of the paperwork myself and I won’t be able to release her to you. So, you can stay in my car until then, just lock it on your way out, okay?”

“I can do that,” Erick said folding his hands in his lap.

“Good,” Nines nodded as he opened his door, “See you in a little while.” Then with a final goodbye nod, Nines was on his way to the ER.

As Nines was changing into his scrubs, he mused on the fact that there was never a dull moment in his life. It added to the charm, he supposed. 

After Nines had finished changing, he was quickly running to get his work started. He suddenly noticed that he had forgotten to take out his eyebrow piercing. Turning around with a grimace to take it out. Carol would skin him alive and feed him to the dogs if she caught him on the floor with it. 

Nines shook his head in disbelief as he left the breakroom a second time. He couldn’t believe all this android business was making him so sporadic. His brothers would get a kick out of their perfect baby brother forgetting about something so simple.

The time flew by as Nines worked as efficiently as he could. He had to free up some time, so he had a moment to get things ready for Erick. 

Nines was finally able to get the paperwork ready after around twenty minutes. Then as soon as he was ready to send the domestic android a text, Nines seen him walking up to the reception desk. He was right on time.

Nines decided to eavesdrop to make sure everything went according to plan. He clutched his clipboard to his chest as he walked up to one of the nursing stations. He took a seat and made himself look busy.

“Excuse me?” Erick asked Julie, “My daughter, _Hannah Gordan?_ I heard she had an accident and I’m here to see her.” 

Julie’s eyes widened as she stared at the man, _“Oh, wow,”_ She finally exclaimed, “We’ve been trying to get ahold of you for a few days now.”

_“I’m so sorry_ ,” Erick shook his head sadly, “I was out of the country on a business trip, and I didn’t have my personal phone on me. I came back as soon as word got to me,” Erick’s composure broke, and a stray tear escaped from his eye, “ _Oh, my god._ I can’t believe this happened, I was just a way for two weeks.”

Nines knew from their exchanged stories that the last bit was completely true.

Julie was on her feet in an instant. Providing the comfort that she was programmed to give, “Hey, it’s okay. You’re here now. Let’s get you to her room to see her, _okay?_ All we have to do now is check you in,” Julie said quickly. She then glanced around, spotting Nines where he was typing away at a computer, “Richard?”

Nines perked up at the sound of his name, he looked over to the android receptionist, “Yes, Julie?”

“Will you be able to take this man to room 203 to see Hannah Gordan, in just a minute?” Julie asked sweetly. 

Nines made a small show of flipping through the files on his clipboard, “I can,” Nines said with his shining professional smile, the sweeter one he normally used with children, “I’ll take him upstairs when you’re ready.” Nines mentally did a little wiggle. That step went a lot easier than he had originally planned. 

Julie nodded and quickly began to do Erick’s check-in process. 

Nines watched as Erick showed her a fake ID that Wendy had made. Then things wrapped up easily and Erick was allowed into the hospital. 

Julie left her station and gestured for the android to follow her. He did. Then she politely introduced him to Nines with a bright smile and went back to her desk.

“Right this way, Mr. Gordan,” Nines said and gestured toward the elevator. Erick followed the gesture and Nines clicked the elevator button. When the ding signaled its arrival, Nines noted gratefully that it was empty. When they were safely inside, Nines let out a breath he hadn’t know he was holding. Committing crimes was nerve-wracking, always had been.

“Wow,” Erick said, “It worked.”

“Yeah, I’m pleased about it too,” Nines replied keeping his tone hushed. Then the elevator opened, and he gestured for the android to go ahead of him. “She’s just in this room. Let me go in first so I can let her know you’re here.” Nines had made sure to have Gavin tell Hannah what was going on, shortly after they were able to reactivate Erick. She knew what was coming, and according to Gavin, she was thrilled. 

Out of habit, Nines pulled Hannah’s chart from the plastic bin by the door. He glanced over the notes, fully aware that he was stalling. He put the charts away and took a deep breath, glancing over to Erick and gave a slight shrug and he pulled the door open. 

Hannah turned to look at the door, her eyes wide and shiny with hope. 

Nines gave her a small grin, “Hello, Hannah, I have brought someone special for you,” Nines said softly and turned to gesture Erick into the room. Nines stepped aside as the android basically ran into the room. 

There was a pause as their eyes locked and they looked as if neither of them could believe the other was really there. Then they collided into a hug. Both of them seemed to forget about the fact that 75% of Hannah’s limbs were in casts.

“Hannah! _I’m so glad you’re okay!_ I was so worried when I heard what had happened!” Erick said quickly as he held onto Hannah’s face.

_“I’m okay,”_ Hannah whispered as tears pooled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, “I was so worried about you too. I’m so glad you’re okay too!” 

Erick smiled as he pulled her back into a hug and rocked her back and forth, humming her a soft tune.

Nines watched the scene with a warm fuzzy feeling bubbling up in his chest. This right here was the reason he did this. The reason he worked this hell of a job, the people made it all worth it.

“How’s it going?” Gavin asked from behind Nines. 

The sound came out of nowhere and caused Nines to jump, entire body giving a harsh flinch. He turned around to look at his android. 

Gavin gave him a sheepish smile and a small wave.

“It’s going well,” Nines said after he quickly regained his composure. 

Gavin nodded, “That’s good. I’m glad they could come back together. It’s nice,” He muttered as he looked past Nines to see the heartfelt scene before him.

“Yeah, its magic,” Nines smiled brightly at Gavin, “Mind heading out? I have to get the paperwork filled out to get Hannah officially discharged. I’ll let you know when everything is all said and done.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Gavin gave a small salute as he turned down the hallway. 

Nines let his eyes follow him for just a few moments before he turned around and braced the scene before him again, “Hey guys,” Nines interrupted softly, “Let’s get this paperwork finished so I can get you two out of here.” He smiled as he wagged his offending clipboard in the air. 

Hannah and Erick broke apart and Nines pulled up a chair next to the bed and they got to work. Filling out the forms only took about twenty minutes and then they were on their way. Hannah was released, with several follow up appointments already scheduled for her broken bones and physical therapy.

It was a magnificent thing to watch Erick wheel Hannah out of the hospital. Nines had brought this little family back together, well him and his accomplice. 

Nines smiled despite himself as he sent a message to the man in question, asking him to meet him around the back. 

Gavin quickly agreed.

When Nines swung around the back of the building, he noticed his android leaning up against the wall.

Gavin noticed Nines as well and gave him a crooked grin, one that was so uniquely Gavin. He pulled himself off of the wall and spread his arms slightly in an invitation.

Nines was overwhelmed for a moment, frozen in place. Then it all snapped into motion and he closed the space between them. He took Gavin’s face into his hands and pulled him into a brief, but passionate kiss. When he pulled back, he noted that the smaller man had closed his eyes and his face was a lovely shade of blue.

Gavin cracked his eyes open and they were glossed over with emotion. Hazy with a gaze of pure adoration. His mouth was slightly parted as if waiting for more. Then after a few moments, his slack mouth turned up into a dopey grin. 

Nines felt his heart sputter, _holy shit._ No one had ever looked at him like that before.

“Nice to see you too, dipshit,” Gavin muttered, trying to sound harsh, but the effect was canceled by the love in his eyes. Then he was nuzzling into Nines’ hands.

“Yeah, I adore seeing you, too,” Nines whispered as he took the invitation and pulled Gavin into a deep kiss.


	12. Phcking Software Instabilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin does some thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom!  
> Hope you guys are having an awesome holiday season so far!

“GV200,” A voice behind Gavin called out.

Gavin didn’t immediately understand that it was directed at him. So, he just continued the research he was doing.

 _“GV200!_ Holy shit. Respond you _fucking,_ _plastic prick!”_ The voice got louder and clearly more aggravated.

Then finally Gavin jerked with realization. _Oh shit! **He** was GV200. _He turned around and shrunk into himself as he noticed it was Detective Anderson who had been yelling. Gavin had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. He just didn’t get it, Nines and Conrad seemed like such nice, reasonable people. _So, how the phck did Connor end up like this?_

“I’m sorry, Detective Anderson. I’m not used to responding to my model number anymore,” Gavin rattled off.

 _“Oh?_ Why’s that?” Connor didn’t sound upset, he just sounded curious. His aggressive body language deflating quickly, as it always did. The detective’s temper was like a match, fiercely there then gone just as quickly.

“I’ve been assigned a name by the ER staff, so I’ve been going by ‘Gavin,’” Gavin responded. He was trying to keep his information vague enough that he wouldn’t give Nines away. Because as far as Gavin knew Connor and Nines had a fairly good relationship and he didn’t want to put any strain on that.

“Okay, then,” Connor said, as he narrowed his eyes slightly, _“Gavin_ could you go make an update to your report on Hannah Gordan?”

“Absolutely, Detective,” Gavin said with a robotic smile. The smile that came from his programming, not the genuine one he knew that he was fully capable of.

“Good, try to get it finished quickly,” Connor said with a dismissive wave of his hand and he turned to go back to his desk.

Gavin felt his scowl return to his face as he walked over to the terminal reserved for the androids in the precinct. He sat himself down in the chair and began an interface with the machine.

Hannah’s file pulled up with the basic information that Gavin had already uploaded into the system. The original incident occurred on May 12, 2035 at around 15:45. Her entrance operation concluded at around 17:00.

Gavin frowned at the screen. There should have been a decent amount of early development data on Hannah’s condition considering how touch and go it was. But there wasn’t, because Gavin wasn’t doing his job. He had gone to spend time with Nines. He felt heat rise to his cheeks.

_Warning Hardware Overheating_

Gavin rolled his eyes at the message, quickly dismissing it. He got the stupid warning at the slightest increase in his system’s temperature. His anxious reporting software needed to chill out. He wasn’t in any immediate danger and wouldn’t be until he was almost to the point of catching on fire. Which no matter how much his systems made him think that was possible, it simply wasn’t.

Gavin went back to working on the report. The next several updates on Hannah were just copies of her charts and mini entries about her mental condition. There was nothing in the report about the way she had given him a small, sweet smile when she thanked him for saving her. There was nothing about how she lit up as she talked about her caretaker and android, Erick. The overwhelming sadness as she recalled the burglars who had attacked her and Erick. There was nothing about the way her entire being perked up when he told her Nines was able to fix Erick and they were going to be a family again.

Gavin felt a little empty with the information he had put in the document. He actively knew he was withholding information from the DPD. Though he knew in his thirium pump that the DPD didn’t give a shit about all the glitches and illegal things he had done for Hannah and for Nines. They didn’t need to know that Gavin would do literally anything for Nines.

_Software Instability_

Gavin sighed at the message he was pretty good at ignoring by this point. He knew that his software was not phcking stable. He knew he was riddled with errors and inefficiencies.

Gavin ground his teeth as he simply put into the database that Hannah’s Father, Erick Gordan, had been located and contacted. Hannah was to be released later today with several follow up appointments planned and that just needed to be confirmed. That should be plenty of information. Brief and to the point, just how Captain Stern seems to like the reports.

Gavin turned off the terminal and stood up with an unnecessary amount of force. Then he was walking to where Connor basically lived, his desk.

Connor was playing with a quarter as he stared intently at his terminal screen.

“Detective Anderson?” Gavin asked in as flat a tone as he could muster. Which wasn’t all that hard, all he had to do was lean back onto his programming. Programming he just couldn’t seem to escape.

 _“Hmm?”_ Connor barely looked up from his screen, flipping the quarter from one hand to the other.

“I completed the report. I sent it to your terminal for you to submit to Captain Stern after review.”

“Thanks,” Connor said with that goddamned dismissive wave. Still not looking up from his screen or fumbling in the movements of the quarter

“No problem, Detective,” And with that Gavin wandered out of the precinct. Then he was on his way to the hospital to see his human and watch Hannah be released.

Gavin sat in his vehicle and turned on the autonomous mode and he sat back in his seat and let his mind wander to the man that took up far too much of his processing power.


	13. Viva Voce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> File Name: Nurse Richard Anderson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I tried really hard to make this clear! But if it is not clear, there is a time reversal in this chapter. We're going back to get Gavin's POV!
> 
> Title Song: [The Rocketboys - Viva Voce](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61v21lduha0)

_Nurse Richard Anderson is a walking nightmare._ Was one of the first thoughts Gavin had about the human on that fateful February day he started officially working at the ER.

Richard was tall, dark, with bright blue eyes, and complete with a stick up his phcking ass. He was stoic and emotionless except for what seemed like vague interest and maybe some contempt. Not at all what Gavin expected from all the information he’d been presented on the man from Cyberlife. And on top of that, he quickly realized that Nurse Anderson was related to the fated Detective Anderson. _Why hadn’t anyone told him that?_

Gavin had just figured it was a common last name, which it is according to his databases. Unfortunately, upon seeing all the obvious physical likeness and his scans approving that Richard was Connor’s younger brother by a whopping three years. Gavin wanted to groan. He was never going to get away from these assholes.

Their first conversation was just as lackluster as Gavin had expected. Though, he had to admit that Richard was far less callus than his older brother. Unlike Connor, who was rude and unsightly to the androids in the precinct and not to mention his coworkers. Richard at least seemed to at least take the androids on his team seriously. Seriously enough that he conceded quickly to find a way that he and Gavin could work together. Giving Gavin his contact info and a small list of instructions.

Gavin documented the instructions and his contact information quickly into a folder he had named, ‘Nurse Richard Anderson.’ Then he took his leave after that, not wanting to stay at this awkward hospital any longer than necessary. Not when there wasn’t anything to do.

The next time Gavin was called to action was far less exciting than the first time, as things tended to be. A patient that was bleeding out a single stab wound to the shoulder. Gavin had barely remembered to call Nurse Anderson beforehand, but he did with his ETA being almost five minutes. He decided he could make that a standard procedure.

Nurse Anderson was ready when Gavin arrived. Richard had apparently deemed a full team unnecessary as he only had a single surgical android and a gurney with him. That was all Richard needed as he was quick and efficient with repairing the damage to the stabbing victim. He had him on the road to recovering within the hour.

_Nurse Richard Anderson is extremely good at his job._ Was what Gavin documented about him next. Because it was true, Richard had a very good record and rapport with the hospital and with the patients. Maybe Cyberlife was right about Richard and how qualified he was.

After that Gavin decided to do some digging around the nurse’s personal life. And what Gavin had found made Richard’s impressive success surprising. He only had an Associates in Nursing from a lackluster college, but he passed his NCLEX-RN with flying colors. He had become a head nurse in the trauma department quickly after he started here, fresh out of said shitty college.

Gavin couldn’t help but wonder why someone as talented as Nurse Anderson didn’t go to a better college. Then further digging proved he probably couldn’t have gotten into a better school. Richard had a criminal record and uninspired grades from when he was in high school. Richard had also never participated in any extracurricular activities.

Gavin had a hard time believing the information he was reading, looking at the nurse now didn’t give any indication of a troubled past. He looked like a hoity-toity brat, but a good deal of his paper trail said otherwise. It was then that Gavin had started to pay much closer attention to the lanky nurse.

_Nurse Richard Anderson’s stress levels stay at around 40%._ Was an entry that Gavin had put in oddly reluctantly. He chalked it up to feeling unsure if it was relevant data. He felt compelled to finally log it into the Nurse’s file after he seen that the levels stayed that high when Richard was doing something as simple as reading over charts.

Gavin’s observations of Richard’s stress levels revealed another interesting piece to the puzzle. _Nurse Anderson has trust issues._ Anytime someone would breach his personal bubble his stress levels would spike momentarily then settle down to a slightly elevated amount. That tension that Richard carried in his shoulders never seemed to go away. He seemed like he was waiting for something to go wrong at the drop of a hat.

The first time Gavin seen Richard’s stress levels drop below that 40% line was around two months after he had started working with him.

There was an exciting case that Gavin had gotten roped into. He brought in a patient with several stab wounds and blunt force trauma. A Red Ice deal gone very wrong. _But then again how many of them didn’t?_

Gavin notified Nines in a bit of a frenzy, a bit overwhelmed by the situation. Yet, he still arrived at the hospital in about five minutes after he placed his warning call.

Gavin couldn’t seem to get the patient to stabilize while they were in transit. He knew the operation was going to be a messy one, so he was quite surprised to learn that Richard was not helping with it. That’s how they ended up in the hallway together waiting for the procedure to be completed.

Then out of the blue, Richard decided to engage Gavin in conversation. Like of the casual and friendly variety?

It was an odd experience to hear the stuck-up nurse talk in such a carefree manner. It was even crazier when Nurse Anderson _laughed._ A sudden and sharp sound, as if Richard himself hadn’t quite expected it. Gavin wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but he couldn’t believe how amazing the sound was regardless. He really wanted to hear it again and he felt his thirium pump clench at those thoughts.

_Software Instability_

Gavin took pause at the warning that popped up in his vision. A scramble of code in complete disarray. He tossed the error messages aside as quickly as they arose. He quickly turned his full attention back to Richard. Whose stress levels had dropped down to a record low 20%. The nurse looked happy and was clearly enjoying the conversation.

Gavin was too if he was being honest with himself. Seeing Richard smile was an oddly pleasant experience.

Richard’s stress levels stayed low until Carol walked out of the operating room with a deep frown on her face. Then they jumped back up to 35%. Almost like the calming conversation had never happened.

Gavin felt his own stress rise along with the nurse’s. Carol clearly had some bad news, and Gavin wasn’t comfortable around her anyway.

Richard turned his attention from the frowning Carol, back to Gavin with a bright smile, “Call me Nines.”

_Warning Hardware Overheating_

_Software Instability_

The warnings flooded his vision again, and Gavin forced them away as he smiled, “Okay. Goodbye, _Nines,”_ Gavin drew out. _Nines_ had a nice ring to it and fit the man much better than Richard. Gavin smiled at the thought and turned around with the intention of leaving. Then things decided to get interesting.

“Nines. I’m going to have to ask you to call Connor,” Carol said with sharp frown lines marring her face.

“Oh, fuck,” Nines muttered, sliding a hand through his hair, causing his unruly curls to stick up even more, “He’s dead, so now it’s a homicide.”

“Good job, detective,” Carol replied her tone clearly registering as sarcasm, “Now call your brother, _the actual detective,_ so he can take a look at the body and get the coroner to take him to the police department.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nines said with a salute, “I’ll get him on the line.”

“Thanks, I’m going to go get cleaned up now. Call me when he gets here.”

“Will do.” Nines pulled out his cell phone and tapped the screen a few times until he held it to his ear.

Gavin turned up his auditory sensitivity, so he could hear their interactions.

Connor picked up on the first ring, “Hey, Nines! How are you?” he said in an excited tone that Gavin had never heard from the depressed detective before.

Nines stress levels dropped a bit when he heard his brother on the other end, “Hey, Con. Got a dead guy for you to come look at.”

“Oh, man. Sorry about that,” Connor’s voice was soft.

“Nah, I wasn’t in the room, he was one of Carol’s. She’s just having me call you.”

“Ah, okay. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be there.”

“Cool, I’ll see you then,” Connor hung up the phone and Nines took a second before he pocketed the phone. He looked up and seemed to notice that Gavin was still there.

“Ah, hey GV200. Could you help me out with this, if you have time that is?” Nines asked, and his tone seemed hesitant.

Gavin didn’t understand why Nines asked as if he had an option on the matter, but it made Gavin’s thirium warm under his synthetic skin, “Of course, I’m here to help,” he smiled at Nines and for the first time the smile felt like it was his own. Which was weird and not something he knew he was even capable of.

_Software Instability_

“That’s good,” Nines seemed to ponder something for a moment, “Do you think you could upload the information from the crime scene from your memory and make some summaries from the machines in the rooms? Oh, and don’t tou-. Wait never mind you don’t have fingerprints.” Nines seemed oddly embarrassed by the oversight and a light flush rose high on his cheeks.

Gavin was instantly enthralled by it. He had no idea that Nines was capable of such a reaction. Gavin wanted to learn so much more about this human. He wanted to learn everything about him. _Where had he come from? Why were Connor and him so different? Why did he have trust issues?_

Gavin was captivated, and it was so outside of his programming. He mentally shook himself as he nodded once more at Nines and headed towards the operating room. Following the orders before he could become any more distracted.

Gavin gathered up the information from the many machines still attached to the deceased man. It was such a convenient thing for androids to be able to interface with this machinery. He basically just had to touch the heart monitor and throw all the data into a spreadsheet and voila everything was there all nice and pretty.

When Gavin was done, and he had submitted the information to the DPD homicide file that Detective Anderson had just opened. He exited the room and there was Detective Anderson himself talking to Nines animatedly. Nines’ stress level was at an astoundingly low 18% as he chatted with his brother.

Gavin walked up to them slowly and waited patiently for them to notice him.

“Ah, Tin Can!” Connor said in an unusually chipper tone, “Nines told me you collected the data from the machines. Think you could send that data to my email?”

“Of course, Detective Anderson,” Gavin replied quickly, “It should be in the case file already.”

“Sweet,” Connor chimed as he pulled out his phone, “Come on Ninety-Nines, I got a body to poke at.”

Nines rolled his eyes affectionately as he followed Connor into the operating room.

Gavin followed behind, more out of curiosity than anything else and he was not disappointed. The interactions he witnessed were quite interesting.

Nines looked softer than he had ever before as he chatted with his brother, even as they talked over a dead body.

_Connor and Nines are very close, and Connor is one of the only people that Nines trusts._ Were quickly added to Gavin’s ever-growing database of things he’d learned about Nines.

Connor was a solid six foot, and Nines was even taller than that. Both of them were equipped with an air of something almost sinister. So, watching the two men act so casually around a dead body, would probably have been intimidating to a normal human.

But Gavin was an android, therefore he was far more interested in the nontraditional atmosphere the brothers had managed to create. He was absorbing every ounce of information that he could. As he watched the Andersons work together. They would occasionally ask a favor of Gavin, and other than that he stayed a passive observer.

The Andersons poked around the body for about twenty minutes. Much longer than they probably needed to, but they were clearly just enjoying each other’s company. Gavin wasn’t going to say a word, it was the happiest he’d ever seen either of them.

Connor officially ended the interaction with a call to the coroner saying the body was cleared for pick up and delivery to the precinct.

“Well, as much as I hate to, it’s time for me to return to _Amanda’s_ domain,” Connor chuckled, but he sneered at the Captain’s name.

Gavin was completely thrown by the casually and bitter way Connor just mentioned the Police Captain. _What the phck?_ Then the very next moment Gavin watched in surprise as Nines’ lips curled into something equally nasty at the mention of the name. _What in the ever-loving phck?_

“I wish you would transfer to another precinct. Because, I for one would have shot her by now,” Nines basically hissed.

Connor barked out a harsh laugh, “I’ve thought about it, but it’s not quite worth it. And why are you whining? You don’t have to see her every day.”

“Listen, I really hate the fact that _you_ do,” Nines whispered harshly, his stress levels began to steadily rise, _“God,_ I just wish we could cut her out of our lives completely.”

“Me too. But Conrad would be pretty upset with us if we did that,” Connor said with a sad smile, _“But!_ Look on the bright side. If the rest of this year goes smoothly, I’m going to try to transfer over to Ann Arbor.”

Nines brightened up, “That would be fantastic. I liked living in Ann Arbor.”

“Yeah, lots of memories from that place,” Connor said in a strangely flat tone and pulled Nines’ into a messy side hug, “Well, Ninety-Nines I’m going to head out now. You behave and all that jazz.”

“Of course,” Nines grinned as he returned the hug, “See you next Saturday.”

“You too,” Connor pulled himself away from Nines and locked eyes with Gavin, “Hey, Tin Can. Come with me we have a crime scene to discuss!”

Gavin gave a small smile to Nines on his way out. One that the tall, dark, and freckled man returned happily. Gavin scowled as he turned to follow the detective out of the precinct. He left the hospital with far more questions than he had answers that day.


	14. Small Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more to Nines than meets the eye, a discovery made because of coffee and small talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Gavin and I'm so glad you guys do too!
> 
> TW: There are mentions of sex work and abuse in this chapter. Nothing graphic, but stay safe!
> 
> Title song: [Call Security | Small Talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OAN1Jy37HU)
> 
> Edit: It came to my attention that it may have not been clear that this chapter is still happening in past. Starting with the last chapter we are going through the story from Gavin's POV. This specific chapter is happening a few weeks before the events of Chapter 4.

Gavin glanced down at the warm cup in his hand. He wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do, but here he was. _He knew_ that Nines liked his coffee black with two sugars. _He knew_ that when Nines had coffee his stress levels decreased.

Gavin was also very aware of the fact that when he had seen Nines around thirty minutes ago his stress level was nearing 70%. An extremely dangerous level for anyone. _He knew_ he had to do something.

Now, Gavin wasn’t so sure he’d made the right choice. He was holding the cup out towards Nines, who now had a flabbergasted expression. His stress levels were still teetering around 67%. Gavin felt a stab of something gross inside of his thirium pump and felt some heat rise to his cheeks.

_Warning Hardware Overheating_

_Software Instability_

“I got this for you,” Gavin said, trying to speak confidently despite the foreign shyness that was coursing through him.

 _“Huh?”_ Nines said dumbly.

“It’s coffee, black with two sugars,” Gavin’s scowl hardened a little to hide how he was feeling, “it contains; Caffeine, Chlorogenic acid, Quinic acid, polyph-” Gavin was promptly cut off by Nines waving his arms in front of himself.

“That’s not what I meant,” Nines said with a small chuckle, his stress levels dropped ever so slightly, “I was just surprised. _You really got this for me?”_

“Yeah, you looked like you needed a pick me up,” Gavin said with a small smile.

Nines returned the smile as he finally took the coffee cup from Gavin and promptly took a big swig, “Thank you so much. _God,_ what I really need is a cigarette.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow, surprised by the emotional vulnerability in that statement. Not to mention the fact that the health professional wanted a cigarette. Gavin hadn’t noticed any evidence before that had indicated that Nines was a smoker. He performed yet another scan on the taller man. Yeah, there still wasn’t a lot of evidence even now.

“You smoke, Nurse Nines?” Gavin asked, curiosity burning in his tone. His frown deepened, maybe that was Nines passively fidgeted so much.

Nines took another big drink of his coffee, avoiding meeting the android's eyes, “Occasionally. It’s a bad habit leftover from when I was a teenager.”

 _“Ah,”_ Gavin mused adding that piece of data to his _'Nurse Nines'_ file. Then he quickly decided he needed to go back to the task at hand, lowering Nines’ stress levels. Which were now at 59%. “Are you doing okay?” Gavin asked in a soft, comforting tone.

Nines’ eyes widened a minuscule amount and his stress levels jumped back up to 62%.

Gavin expected a brush off or something of the sort. But instead, Nines looked around briefly before he placed his hand on the small of Gavin’s back and started leading them down the hallway.

Gavin let him.

They only stopped once at the employee break room. Nines left briefly to grab a small bag. Then he was leading Gavin down the hallway once again.

A few moments later they were leaving the hospital out of a back exit. Gavin by his point was extremely curious about what Nines had going on that he couldn't talk about in the hospital.

Nines slowly pulled his hand from Gavin’s back, glancing at the android with a question in his eyes. Then it was gone as quickly as it had arrived. Nines reached into his back pocket to retrieve his cell phone and put it to his ear, “Hey Julie. Is it okay if I take my lunch a little early?” He asked into the receiver.

 _“Oh, wow._ Okay, let me check,” The polite receptionist said, “Yeah that's fine. Things are looking a little slow right now anyway. I’ll tell Carol your trading with her.”

“Sounds good to me. Thank you,” Nines said and then quickly hung up on her. 

Gavin just stared at the taller man as he leaned against the wall and dug around in the small bag and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter.

Gavin couldn’t help but frown disapprovingly at the man. Smoking was a less than ideal habit, but he wasn't going to say a word on the matter. There was no reason for him to be a busybody and stress Nines out even more.

Nines lit the cigarette and just shrugged when he noticed that Gavin was clearly judging him. There were a few moments of tense silence as Nines puffed away, his stress levels pulling themselves down to around 54%. _Stupid phcking nicotine._

When the cigarette was finished Nines threw it into a nearby receptacle, then he locked eyes with the android as he began an explanation, “Amanda wants us to have lunch with her this Saturday.”

 _“Amanda?_ As in Amanda Stern the Police Captain?” Gavin couldn’t help the surprise that leaked into his tone. Just recently he’d heard Nines and Connor talking about the woman in a rather unfriendly manner.

“Yup,” Nines said popping the ‘p’ clearly showing his displeasure.

“Why’s that?”

“Family bonding time, I guess you could call it,” Nines said as he wantonly pulled out his phone.

 _“Family?”_ Gavin gaped.

“Well, her and Conrad like to think that,” Nines sneered.

 _“Conrad?”_ Gavin asked he’d only ever heard the name mentioned once before.

“My other older brother,” Nines muttered as he scrolled on his phone.

Gavin’s eyes widened. _There are three of them?_ “Would you mind elaborating? Because I have no idea what you’re trying to get at,” Gavin asked completely confused, LED flashing a concerned yellow.

Nines looked up from his phone to once again lock eyes with Gavin, “Sure.” He paused to pop his neck, and then he pulled himself from the wall. He frowned and slid his phone back into his pocket, “Come on. Let’s go to my car. I should probably sit for this one.”

Then without another word Nines was walking towards the parking lot.

Gavin stared at the nurse for a moment letting his processors catch up. Then he was hastily following behind him.

The walk was brief, and Nines pulled out the keys and unlocked a charcoal grey Jetta and climbed in.

Gavin was a little off put by this strange interaction. Nines was quite the character. But Gavin still found himself intrigued and was climbing into the passenger seat anyway. This was outside of his normal range of interactions. He was a little lost, being outside of the range of programmed social interactions. though Gavin was becoming aware of the fact that Nines was worth the risk. He was such a good human.

The sat in the car for a few moments of silence. Nines sighed as he leaned his chair back. He rubbed his hands over his face, clearly agitated. 

Gavin stayed quiet. He wasn't sure what to do anyway, he was here because he found himself oddly attached to the enigmatic nurse. He smiled softly, trying to create a calm atmosphere for Nines to open up into.

After another tense minute passed, Nines finally turned to face Gavin and started monologuing, “When I was 15, I got arrested for breaking and entering. I ended up being held at the DPD and since I was a minor, they sent Amanda to question me. She was still just a detective then. She asked me what I was doing breaking into a drug store. I didn’t reply, no matter what she asked me I didn’t say a word. Until she pulled up some files with information about me and my brothers. Scary little details, like how Conrad had graduated high school early and that Connor had been picked up for solicitation a few times. She _even_ had a couple of pictures of my mother from when they pulled her out of the Detroit River. And by that point, I was frankly terrified, and _she knew it!”_

Nines paused to draw in a deep breath, before he continued, “Then she very suddenly changed her tone and told me she knew why I was breaking into that store. Told me that she knew that we were in a rough situation and that we were surviving on our own. I _hated_ how right she was, I _hated_ that she could tell all that from a couple of files, no matter how obvious it was," Nines shook his head angrily, "Then out of nowhere, she offered for us to stay with her for a while and we did. She hadn’t really given us much of a choice. Even now she still tries to take care of us.”

Nines took another deep breath, recovering from his rushed explanation. He tore his eyes away from Gavin and a slight flush colored his cheeks. He was clearly embarrassed about having had opened up.

Gavin stared at Nines completely flabbergasted. That was a lot of information even for his state-of-the-art processors. He let a tense quiet fall over the small space of the car. _What should he comment on? What should he say?_ He had no phcking clue, so he decided to say the first thing that came out of his mouth.

“Detective Anderson was a _prostitute?”_ Gavin blurted and instantly regretted it. _Smooth,_ of all the things to comment on. He didn’t say a word on the fact that he had a partial answer as to why Nines had a criminal record. He didn’t comment on his mother being pulled from the river. Not on the fact that Captain Stern had taken in a ragtag trio of delinquent teenage boys. The fact he chose to talk about was that Connor had been arrested for _phcking solicitation and more than once at that!_

Nines’ eyebrows shot up into his hairline as he whipped his head around. His mouth was pulled into a tight line. An unwelcome surprise was written very clearly on his face.

 _Oh, hell,_ Gavin thought bitterly as that was not the reaction he had wanted out of Nines. Now he was even more unsure of how to proceed. 

Then Nines’ mouth started twitching and the areas around his eyes crinkled and suddenly his firm expression cracked. Nines burst out laughing, a hearty, full sound. It echoed loudly in the small space.

Gavin stared in complete shock as Nines’ shoulders shook with the force of his laughter. He even snorted much to his embarrassment. After that, he kept laughing even as his entire face turned red.

Gavin at that point couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his own face. He had no idea Nines could look so relaxed, so _happy._ His stress levels were now at a record low 10%. It was also nice that Gavin adored the sound of Nines' laugh. A rare, but completely beautiful sound.

_Software Instability_

Nines’ laugh slowly faded into giggles and then he was finally able to rein it in completely.

Nines was still grinning ear to ear when he finally decided to respond to Gavin’s shocking statement, “That’s one way of putting it, _holy shit._ Yeah, Connor’s always been a little bit of a slut,” Nines paused to chuckle once more before continuing, “When things weren’t going too well, he happily said one day, ‘Why not get paid for doing what he loved?’ and he did. He did it for a few odd years and he was arrested _six times_ for it! He still did it even when he didn’t necessarily have to. He said it was because ‘old habits die hard’ but I knew better.”

 _“Huh,_ I never would’ve known. It’s not in his file anymore,” Gavin mused aloud. Trying not to laugh at the fact that Nines had just called his older brother a slut. The story was hilarious in all honesty, but he was made for several things and humor wasn’t one of them. So, he refused to let the laugh escape him.

“Yeah, no, it wouldn't be there anymore. He got it removed from his file after he worked at the DPD for a while as a beat cop. But at quite a hilarious cost," Nines paused and he flashed a coy smile and his eyes crinkled with mischief, "When the detectives were on a case attempting to bust a widescale prostitution ring, they decided they needed an undercover contact and after digging around they found out about Connor’s interesting criminal past.”

Gavin felt his eyes widen, _“They didn’t?”_

Nines nodded enthusiastically, _“They did._ Pulled Connor aside, showed him his file, and then asked him if he remembered how to do the job. Connor was mortified but from what he told me, he said ‘it wasn’t the kind of work you just forgot how to do.’ Then they asked him to go undercover for them, said he was skilled and basically looked like jailbait anyway.”

“I’m assuming he accepted the task?” Gavin really wanted to log this information as blackmail against the detective.

“Yeah, he did. He helped them bust the ring within a couple of weeks and about a month later he got promoted to Detective and moved to the Red Ice Task Force and the rest is history.”

 _“Huh,”_ Gavin mused. Then he decided he wanted to ask about the other part of Nines’ monologue that had stuck out to him, “Nines, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your mother?”

Nines’ entire body went rigid and his stress levels shot back up. Then his left hand moved to grip at the spot where his neck and collarbone met, “She died in a car accident when I was 12.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” Gavin muttered, but he didn’t feel like he was _actually sorry._

Nines frowned heavily and blew out a harsh breath through his nose, _“Don’t be.”_

“Okay,” Gavin said into the now tense atmosphere in the car. Gavin was finally able to put the last few pieces together. _Nines was abused as a child._ He added that sadly to the other man’s file. His thirium pump felt like it was burning. _Why was he feeling so goddamned much?_

_Software Instability_

“Sorry,” Nines whispered suddenly, “I didn’t mean to dump all this on you, but thanks for listening, I guess. God, I just _really_ don’t want to see Amanda, but it’s been a while since all the Anderson boys have been together and I know Conrad and Connor are going to go. Conrad adores Amanda and Connor can’t afford to piss her off more than he already does at work.”

Gavin chose to ignore the subject change, “Yes, Captain Stern can be a bit much at times.”

“You’re telling me,” Nines said with a dry laugh, one so different than the other from just a few minutes ago. He sounded done and bone-deep exhaustion was leaking into his body language.

Gavin’s damn thirium pump began to ache again, _phck,_ he needed to get it checked out at this rate. _Hell,_ he needed to get his everything checked out. He was so riddled with errors he could barely see straight.

“We should probably get back to work, my lunch break is almost over, and I still haven’t even eaten anything yet,” Nines said as he began to adjust his seat back to its original position.

Gavin nodded, “That sounds good to me.”


	15. Seeing Double

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why didn't anyone tell Gavin that Connor and Conrad were twins?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you guys!

Gavin was pretty sure he was in love. Though he had no backing on the matter besides the errors in his code and the research he had been doing in his free time. The internet had provided little help, considering love is such an abstract idea and he wasn’t even human. Androids weren’t supposed to be able to love, but when Gavin looked at Nines he  _ felt. _ He  _ felt _ his thirium pump ache. He _ felt _ his ears and cheeks heat. He _ felt _ like he had bees in his biocomponents. He _ felt _ so much when he wasn’t meant to feel anything, but Gavin was pretty sure that this was what love felt like.

When Gavin wasn’t with Nines, he felt like a part of him was missing. Something he wasn’t even aware he had to begin with. But Nines had definitely put it there. It seemed it was possible that the nurse had managed to get his very essence to wrap itself into Gavin’s code. Only for it to scream out in protest when the nurse wasn’t around.

Gavin tried to ignore how much he loved Nines for a little. But then Nines decided he felt the same way. Nines even admitted that he would very much like to court the android. Which he had taken a very serious effort in the matter.

_ Why? _ Gavin had no idea, but he wasn’t complaining. He was doing the exact opposite. He was more than happy to at least try to return those feelings. He’d do anything to make Nines happy and that realization terrified him. But one of the things the internet had managed to teach him was that love was scary.

Nines never ceased to amaze Gavin. He was full of so many secrets and surprises. It enthralled Gavin and there was no going back. But he’d known that for a while now.

His human was a top nurse in the area. Nines was sharp as a tack and a force to be reckoned with. But none of the humans seemed to notice all the nooks and crannies that Nines hid his true self in. None of them seemed to notice that Nines was actually extremely shy. They didn’t know that Nines had a troubled past and that he always worried about his brothers. He was such a wonderful person that Gavin couldn’t resist the pull. He fell straight down into instability.

Now Nines had asked Gavin out on a date. The whole set up was just so  _ Nines. _ The secretive behavior and the precise way he planned everything. It was so phcking sweet. He even took the time to go out and buy Gavin clothes that he thought he would like.

There was no way Gavin was going to say no.  _ Oh,  _ he was completely and utterly  _ phcked. _

But Gavin found the hardest part of the whole matter was fighting his stupid programming. The way it screamed at him, the way it told him he shouldn’t be doing this. Told him that he was breaking protocols placed by the American Androids Act of 2029. But he did it anyway. The software instabilities and the overheating were well worth the price of getting to see his human smile. Plus, Nines was completely right. Gavin loved the outfit that he had picked out. Today he was a human. Today he was  _ Nines’ _ human.

They drove to the park. It was a peaceful ride. Well, except for the rock music that Gavin found himself enjoying. Much to Nines’ barely contained annoyance. Gavin made a mental note that Nines’ didn’t like rock music.

Nines’ picnic was a by the book except for a surprise for his android.

Gavin was captivated by the taste of sweet thirium. Nines had gone out of his way to make it for him and that was the most amazing thing ever. Gavin hadn’t even considered that he could enjoy drinking thirium. Nines continued to be full of surprises.

They shared so much time together Gavin wasn’t even worried about them getting caught anymore. The constant hum of his systems screaming at him to reidentify himself could be ignored for just a little while longer.

Then that horrible feeling Gavin had learned was called fear slammed back into him as he watched in complete horror as Nines was tackled to the ground.

Gavin’s first instinct was to fight the attacker until he got a look at the culprit. She was a young child.  _ What? _

Then after the initial shock left Nines a smiled bloomed onto his face like springtime flowers.

Gavin recognized the beautiful look of love that overtook Nines’ face. It was different than the way he looked at Gavin, but he knew it was love, regardless.

Gavin had to know who this little girl, that was wrapped up in Nines’ arms. So, he scanned her.

_ Olivia M. Anderson. Born 06-08-2027. Medical Conditions: None. _

Gavin’s scan declared. She was clearly a member of Nines’ family.

Gavin felt his frown deepen. Nines had mentioned his family on several occasions. So, he knew that Nines’ had two older brothers; Connor and Conrad. Gavin even knew that their mother died in a car accident when they were all still children. But Nines had never  _ once _ mentioned that either of his brothers had children running around in the mess.  _ Not once. _

Gavin was still in shock when someone else joined them at the picnic site. Gavin felt his thirium run cold.  _ Connor? _ No, that couldn’t be right. Connor couldn’t have a kid,  _ could he? _ Gavin scanned the man anyway. He was dismayed at what he got back.

_ Connor B. Anderson. Born 08-15-2006. Criminal Record: Petty Theft. Medical Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa. _

Gavin couldn’t believe he missed that.  _ A phcking seven-year-old daughter! _

Then things kept getting more and more confusing as the brothers kept chatting until a woman carrying a  _ baby and a toddler  _ arrived. She was quite surprised to see Nines in the park.

Gavin gave her a scan.

_ Heather P. Anderson. Born 03-23-2004. Criminal Record: None. Medical Conditions: None. _

Now Gavin was even more phcking confused. He could maybe justify maybe missing an older child conceived from interesting circumstances.  _ But a wife and three children? _ There was no phcking way. Not to mention Gavin  _ knew _ Connor was gay.

Gavin festered in his confusion for a few moments, digging through his database in an attempt to connect the dots. But then Connor approached him and stuck up a polite conversation.

Gavin was now completely convinced that he’d entered the twilight zone. Connor had never been nice to him before this.  _ Why was he starting now? _ Not to mention he should be freaking the phck out about him being a disguised android. Gavin narrowed his eyes at this screwed up reality he had entered.  _ Was this a weird punishment created by his CPU? Had he overheated and was now hallucinating? _

Gavin went with his gut and tried to get answers to his questions.

Connor looked annoyed at the questions and turned to Nines to whine about this whole mess. Complaining about Gavin knowing him.

_ What was going on? _ Gavin frowned, attempting to put the scattered pieces back together.

The out of nowhere Olivia charged Gavin. His self-preservation instincts kicked in and he slammed his hand onto his hat.

But Olivia didn’t run into him, instead, she engaged him in juvenile conversation. Asking him questions about Nines and him.

Gavin was immediately smitten by the small blue-eyed girl. He couldn’t bring himself to lie to the little girl. Telling her a roundabout truth. A truth that he really wanted to believe.

It was quite cute when Olivia gave a curt nod. One that matched her uncle’s so well. She even had the same fire in her eyes as she marched over to her mom. She was definitely an Anderson.

Then Gavin saw his chance and finally addressed the elephant in the room.  _ What the phck is going on? _

Nines stared at him wide-eyed but didn’t get a chance to respond. His brother beat him to the punch, giving an unexpected introduction.

_Conrad._ _Twins!_ ** _Aha!_** Then Gavin was laughing, the urge was undeniable, laughing freely was such a bubbly sensation. _Why didn’t he think of that possibly sooner?_

Gavin ran a manual lookup scan.

_Conrad S. Anderson._ _Born 08-15-2006. Criminal Record: Trespassing. Medical Conditions: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Disorder._

Gavin made quick notes with an in-depth scan to internalize all notable differences between Conrad and Connor. He didn’t want to confuse the two ever again. But now that he knew the truth he didn’t think that it was possible.

Conrad and his family were such sweet people. The conversation was pleasant after that. Even when Conrad made fun of how short he was.

Gavin did find it a little unnerving to know that he was now officially Nines’ boyfriend to his family. Though his thirium pump warmed at the thought.

Nines carried his nieces for a few more minutes and then he said a swift goodbye to his nephew. With that Conrad and his family were gone.

It was a whirlwind of an interaction and Gavin felt happy after it was all said and done. He understood none of it, but he knew he was thrilled that Nines’ family seemed to like him. Even if they did think he was a human.


	16. Wanted To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin learns about both his ability to love and his limits on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my wonderful Beta @Magical_Persona  
> She's the love of my life and the reason this work has come as far as it has!
> 
> Title Song: [Infected Mushroom - Wanted To](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9qjNNvsgRg)

Nines sat back down, the picnic resumed the nice quiet feel it had before Nines’ family had shown up. They chatted briefly about the fact Connor and Conrad were twins.

Then after a few moments of comfortable silence. Nines broached the topic Gavin had given a considerable amount of thought.

“Did you mean anything by what you said to Olivia?” Nines asked, his cheeks were spotting a blotchy and uneven blush.

_ Software Instability _

Gavin felt a blush crawl up his neck. Everything in his programming was telling him to say ‘no.’ To crush the poor human’s delusions. But  _ Gavin  _ was an entity entirely separate from his programming.  _ Gavin _ couldn’t do that. Because  _ Gavin  _ knew he was in love with Nines. But he couldn’t say that. He wasn’t allowed to.

Gavin tried to force the words out but the red walls that blocked his speech scared him, but a timid, “I think so,” is what he managed to squeeze between his code. He elaborated the best he could, but every syllable was a struggle. He wasn’t made to love, he wasn’t made for any of this. Frustration overwhelmed him, he just wanted this to be easy. He felt something strange in his eyes, a small prompt came up.

_ Initiate tears? _

Gavin quickly dismissed the prompt. He was far too overwhelmed by everything. By the openly loving look in Nines’ eyes, the need to cry, the want to simply be  _ Gavin. _ But he wasn’t just  _ Gavin.  _ He was also GV200 - 872 124 814 – 32.  _ He was just a machine. _

“Gavin,” Nines spoke up before he paused briefly, looking unsure, “I really do mean it when I say I like you as much as I do.” There was so much sincerity in Nines’ tone.

Gavin couldn’t deal with it. All he wanted to do was tell Nines how much he cared, how much he loved him, but he  _ just couldn’t. _ He felt a frown form on his lips and he was just so lost.

Nines looked insecure as if he was waiting, no, expecting Gavin’s rejection.

Gavin couldn’t have that, he didn’t want to ruin this little thing they had. He scrambled for something he could say,  _ anything.  _ A timid, _ “That makes me happy?”  _ Found its way through his code. He smiled,  _ yeah, _ that was something he needed Nines to know.

Nines’ face was a lovely shade of red as a beautiful smile overtook his face. Then he reached his hands out and cradled Gavin’s face, lightly stroking the stubble there.

Gavin’s thirium pump felt like someone was twisting it in his chest. He needed Nines to know the things he just couldn’t say. So, he leaned into the touch trying to convey all the love he could in such a simple gesture.

Nines’ face changed, and his eyes softened impossibly. He got the message. Then he was leaning towards Gavin and those piercing blue eyes slid shut. Ever so slightly their lips brushed together.

_ Software instability _

_ Warning Hardware Overheating _

_ Biocomponent #2886 Temperature: _ **_Critical_ **

Gavin was frozen. He had to actively force his systems back in working order, but still his CPU stalled out.  _ Nines had just phcking kissed him. _ He had no idea what to do. He wanted nothing more than to kiss him again. But his systems quickly told him, he wasn’t allowed to initiate that kind of contact.

Gavin then did the only thing he was sure he could do. He tackled the larger man to the ground. Tricking his programming but making it to where he could wrap his arms around the man he loved so thoroughly. Nines grunted with the impact, but after a moment those surprisingly strong arms returned the embrace. They stayed like for a while. Gavin’s thirium pump was having a hay day.

Gavin finally broke the silence whispering into Nines’ neck, “How does an android even go about dating a human?”

Nines’ hand rubbed soothing circles into the smaller man’s back. Then he pulled them into a sitting position, “I don’t know, but I’m guessing we could try to figure it out?”

Gavin took the lead and returned the sweet gesture of holding the other’s face.

Nines gasped in return.

Gavin leaned forward a little, pushing lightly against those red barriers, “I think I’d like that too,” Then he kissed Nines back, with as much passion as he could muster with the red walls screaming at him to stop. Then he did stop. Because he had to, or he felt like he was going to break.

When Gavin pulled away. He saw the way Nines was looking at him. There was so much love in his eyes. Everything that was swirling in Gavin’s blue blood was reflected back at him in that gaze.

Gavin had to let Nines know that he was so thankful, “Ya know, thanks for inviting me out. I’m…  _ excited? _ To see where this could lead.”

Nines leaned in and kissed Gavin again, then he whispered out, lips still ghosting against his own, “Me too.”

Then they were kissing again, completely by Nines’ lead. Then when they finally broke apart, Gavin got that prompt again.

_ Initiate tears? _

Gavin stared at the prompt.  _ Why would this make him want to cry?  _ Shaking his head ever so slightly he dismissed it, “Hey, Nines?”

“Yeah, Gav?” Nines asked sweetly.

“Do you think we could go somewhere,  _ uh, _ more private?”

Nines’ face lit up in a dark, splotchy blush. He swallowed nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing, “What did you have in mind?”

Gavin was confused by the reaction for a moment until he realized the implications of his words, “I was hoping we could go to your place, hiding in plain sight is nerve-wracking.”

Nines let out a breath, some of the color naturally leaving his face, “Yeah, we can do that,” He stood up and offered the android a hand.

Gavin took it and pulled himself up. He enjoyed the feeling of his hand in Nines’ much warmer ones.  _ Hell, _ he just enjoyed being around Nines.

Nines then started to pick up the picnic and Gavin joined in. Within a few minutes, everything was cleaned up and they were walking towards Nines’ car.

Gavin watched Nines happily as the taller man loaded the car.

Gavin scanned the vehicle for anything of interest and noticed two pride stickers. One was simply two male symbols overlapping. He burst out laughing at the second,  _ ‘So gay I can’t even drive straight!’ _

Nines looked at him with a quirked eyebrow, “What’s so funny?”

 

Gavin kept chuckling as he pointed at the sticker.

Nines followed the hand,  _ “Oh,” _ he snickered a little, “Conrad gave me that as a passive-aggressive present when I got this car. He still doesn’t know how much I love it.”

“It’s great,” Gavin said as he reigned in his laughter. Then he climbed into the passenger seat.

Nines climbed in and started the car up and got everything ready to hit the road.

“Can I play some music again?” Gavin asked already reaching for the console.

Nines sighed lightly, “Sure.”

Gavin really liked music, he had come to realize. He found it pleasant to have such simple preferences.

The rest of the car ride was comfortably quiet. The silence only was broken by the sound of the rock station Gavin had settled on.

When they arrived at Nines’ apartment building. They once again unloaded the car and started the trip upstairs.

They just stepped out of the elevator to Nines’ floor when they caught someone’s attention,  _ “Ah! _ Hey, Scrubs. I haven’t seen you in a while,” Said a vaguely familiar, feisty looking woman in a police uniform.

Nines smiled, “Hey, Tina. How are you?”

Gavin felt his eyes widen.  _ She was familiar!  _ He knew Officer Chen. She worked with him over at the DPD.  _ Oh, phck! _

“I’m doing great heading to work, and all that jazz,” She said and gave Nines a light punch on his arm. Then her eyes landed on Gavin, and they widened slightly, “Who’s this?”

Nines looked over his shoulder to meet Gavin’s eyes. Then he looked back to Tina with a bright smile,  _ “Oh!  _ This is Gavin, my boyfriend,” Nines waved between the two of them, “Gavin, this is Tina, she’s my neighbor and my best friend.”

Tina snickered. Then walked over and gave Gavin a light smack on his back, “Man, you’re short.”

Gavin sputtered, “You’re not reaching the top shelf yourself,  _ sweetheart.” _

Tina’s mouth dropped open and then it turned into a Cheshire grin,  _ “Ooo! I like you!” _ She turned to a surprised Nines, “Good job, Scrubs.”

“Thanks, get out of here, Uma,” Nines said as he waved her off.

Tina gave a sloppy salute and stepped onto the elevator.

Then when it closed Nines fondly rolled his eyes, “She’s such a bitch,” he said the words that indicated that he didn’t like Officer Chen, but everything else told a very different story. He stopped in front of his apartment and started to unlock the door

Gavin shrugged it off, “Officer Chen didn’t recognize me. How weird.”

Nines dropped the keys with a loud clatter,  _ “That’s right!  _ She works at the DPD with Connor and by extension you.”

“Yeah, but that’s not a big deal if she didn’t realize it was me,” Gavin said as he grabbed the keys and unlocked the door for Nines.

“Fair enough, but even if she did, I don’t think she’d say anything. We have that kind of friendship,” Nines mused as he passed the threshold.

As soon as they were inside Lilith appeared and meowed softly greeting her human. But the black cat took pause as she noticed Nines wasn’t alone. Then she started meowing with even more insistence.

“Give me a moment, little one. My hands are full,” Nines spoke softly to the cat.

Gavin smiled as he put what he was carrying down to pet the little feline, “Hello, Lilith. You remember me?”

She answered him by butted her head into his hand and purring loudly.

_ Software Instability _

Gavin felt the warm rush of something like love run through his wires and he started to pet the cat as if his life depended on it.

There was a soft clinking noise and Lilith’s ears perked up and she retreated towards the noise.

Gavin followed the kitty and noticed Nines had just refilled her food bowl. Gavin couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed by both of them.

Nines walked up the Gavin with a wide smile. Then he leaned down and gave Gavin another light kiss. Those blue eyes sparkling like the purest tropical ocean.

“Hey,” Gavin smirked up at his human.

Nines chuckled and cradled Gavin’s face again, stroking his cheeks reverently, “Hey.”

Gavin was overwhelmed once again and couldn’t resist the urge to cover Nines’ hands with his own. Stroking the long fingers with his own, the action so simple yet so intimate.

Nines was blushing that lovely, uneven red as he looked at their joined hands. They stayed like that until Nines yawned. Then his face turned redder, but his time from embarrassment, “Sorry, guess I’m getting kind of tired. I’ve been awake since like seven yesterday morning.”

Gavin’s eyes widened. That was a long time for a human to be awake. Almost 28 hours, but he guessed nurses were used to that kind of thing, but that was still ridiculous. Gavin asked simply, “Want to go sit on the couch?”

Nines smiled and nodded, “Sounds good.”

They untangled their hands and walked to the couch. Gavin sat down politely and Nines, on the other hand, flopped down and quickly had his head rested on Gavin’s lap.

Gavin smiled down at him. This was the position they were in when Nines had confessed to him all those nights ago.

Gavin reached down and carded his hands through Nines’ hair just like he had wanted to the last time. Though he wasn’t brave enough then. It wasn’t as soft as Gavin thought it would be, but he realized it was because there was product in his hair, quite a bit of it actually.

Nines let out a soft hum and his eyes fell shut, “That feels nice.”

“I’m glad,” Gavin smiled. Then he added a second hand and continued his ministrations, “So, you’ve never mentioned your nieces and nephew before, why’s that?”

Nines shrugged and cracked a single eye open, “It never came up in conversation.”

“Fair enough,” Gavin mused, “Want to tell me about them?”

Nines hummed, “Sure, the one that tackled me, her name is Olivia May. She’s seven and full of energy. She’s really smart, but kind of awkward. She’s so full of love,” Nines yawned again, “The other little girl is Kelly Lee, she’s four and doesn’t have much to say, but she can already read a little bit. She loves to be carried around and her favorite color is green. My nephew’s name is Collins Alexander. He’s not quite two yet, but we’ve already figured out he’s deaf.”

“Deaf?” Gavin interrupted. Thinking back, he noticed that Collins was significantly less fussy than most children his age.

“Yeah, the ENTs say he’s completely deaf,” Nines mused and yawned again, stretching a bit and rolling onto his side, “Conrad found out during Collin’s first Fourth of July. He didn’t even react to the noise, he and Heather thought it was strange, and they took him to the doctor’s to get a hearing test done and lo and behold, he’s completely deaf.”

“Wow,” Gavin mused as he continued to play with Nines’ hair until there was a change in his human’s breathing. Gavin looked down and noticed that Nines had fallen asleep. He felt like his thirium pump was expanding in his chest. It was such a lovely sight.

Gavin settled down into the couch and decided it wouldn’t hurt to slip into stasis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as those who follow me on Tumblr already know; This work is finished! All I have to do now is the editing!


	17. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind the warnings and tags.  
> Also, we're back to the present time. (This is the same day where Nines' last chapter took place. The day Hannah got released from the hospital with Erick)

Gavin was pulled out of his memories by some beeping and the polite voice from his cruiser telling him he had arrived at his destination. Gavin stretched completely needlessly, but he learned he liked how it felt. Then he climbed out of the car gracefully.

It was May 27, 2035. Gavin noted as he walked into the hospital. He didn’t really understand why he made a note of that, but he felt compelled to do so.

Ever since Gavin had officially started dating Nines, he was noticing his silly quarks were developing into something like a definable personality. He was becoming more and more _Gavin_ and less and less _GV200._ Less of a machine. Something he’d never even hoped was possible. Something he knew he should definitely report to Cyberlife, but he didn’t want to be deactivated. He wanted to ride this experience out for as long as he could. Because it was only a matter of time until someone at Cyberlife noticed something wrong with his reports.

Gavin huffed as he dismissed the thoughts quickly. No reason to think about that, he’d cross that bridge when the time comes.

Gavin knew what risks he was taking, and he knew why he was taking them. Because Nines considered him more than his programming and Gavin was starting to believe him. Even though he couldn’t beat it completely, because unfortunately there were still things in his programming he couldn’t refuse. Though his programming had become quite a bit more flexible as time went on.

Like right now, for instance, he was supposed to check on Hannah Gordan’s condition. But he decided to mark that mission as complete without even looking at her charts. Instead, he listened to Nines’ request instead. Which was to go wait for him, while they finished out the discharge paperwork. It was easy enough to make Nines’ request override the one from the DPD network he was functioning from.

A few minutes later Gavin was waiting in his favorite chair, which was located on the first floor. A chair that he, for no logical reason, favored more than any of the others. He waited for around thirty minutes before he got a text message from Nines.

_Hey handsome. Meet me around back?_ The message popped up in the corner of Gavin’s vision right next to a tiny picture of Nines smiling. Gavin blushed involuntarily at the message. Nines was sure to always drench the android in affection. Which was something Gavin was still getting used to.

_Of course, hot shit._ Gavin sent back as he pulled himself up from his chair. He walked swiftly to the spot where they had shared several memories.

There was no one occupying the small, secluded space. Gavin had evidently arrived before Nines.

Gavin glanced around and was quickly overwhelmed. He’d known Nines for around three months now. But it had only been around a month since the day Nines had led him here by the small of his back.

_Wow, how things have changed._ Gavin thought, then shook his head completely unnecessarily and leaned up against the wall to wait.

Nines appeared a minute later. His eyes instantly softening when his eyes met Gavin’s.

Gavin wanted a hug and a kiss terribly. But he wasn’t the best at asking for things he wanted. _Hell,_ he wasn’t made to want those things in the first place. But, nonetheless, he gave a small gesture for Nines to embrace him.

Several emotions flew over Nines’ face before he closed the distance between them.

Gavin was thankful for how well Nines could read him. He was thankful for everything that was Nines. He was thankful for Nines’ lips on his own.

_God,_ Gavin loved Nines so phcking much it _hurt._ His thirium pump fluttered dangerously as thirium flooded to his cheeks. His eyes slipped closed without his consent and he melted against Nines’ lips.

_Software Instability_

_Warning Hardware Overheating_

When Nines pulled back to breathe, Gavin’s eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Nines with all the love contained within his software.

Gavin caught himself once again counting all of Nines’ freckles and moles. He really wanted Nines to keep kissing him. But when he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he nuzzled into the hands caressing his face, “Nice to see you too, dipshit.”

Nines smiled sweetly, “yeah, I adore seeing you, too,” Then _finally_ they were kissing again.

This kiss wasn’t like any they’d shared before, it was deep and felt almost desperate. Nines’ hands slid from Gavin’s cheeks to his waist and upper back as he pulled the android flush against him. Never stopping the movement of their lips.

_Warning Hardware Overheating: **Critical**_

Gavin was so overwhelmed for the first time he fully believed the warning. He was going to reboot at this rate. But he didn’t want to stop. _God,_ he wanted nothing more than for Nines to keep kissing him.

Gavin had to do something to react to all the stimulation and he wasn’t sure of just how to do that. He barely registered the moment that he let his systems take over. Until he felt his artificial skin around his mouth and on his hands fade away. It was a tingling feeling and did absolutely nothing to help with everything being overwhelming. Frankly, it only heightened the sensations.

_Holy shit._ Gavin’s head was spinning, and he felt dizzy.

Nines finally pulled back. He was breathing heavy and his pupils were blown wide. Then his eye’s widened in surprise, and he whispered, _“Oh,”_ and then Nines’ left hand went to Gavin’s bottom lip and he stroked it. His face returned to the previous half-lidded state.

Gavin openly stared at his lover, his processors still catching up with everything. Then all at once, he noticed his skin had deactivated where ever Nines had been touching him. Gavin gasped and slammed his skin back into place, _“I’m sorry!” He_ muttered hastily, Nines probably thought that was weird, “I didn’t realize I did that.”

Nines’ eyes widened again, _“What?_ No, don’t be ashamed I thought it was cute,” Nines smiled that dumb, lovestruck smile, “It was nice to get a look at the real you.”

“You’re gross, Nines,” Gavin said with a soft shove, a hand went to his face to cover his blush, “If I had the capability, you’d give me cavities.”

Nines laughed softly, the sound reminded Gavin of bells, “Oh, yeah. _You love it.”_

Gavin’s mouth fell slack, he gaped like a fish for a few seconds before he could manage a response, _“Yeah, I do.”_

“I’m glad because I feel the same way,” Nines said with a soft kiss.

The words weren’t exchanged. Because they couldn’t be, but they both knew the truth. You could feel it in the air and you see it in their eyes. If you had seen them in that moment you would know instantly that the two were hopelessly in love.

Then the spell was shattered by Nines’ cellphone screaming.

Nines jumped and pulled his phone out. One look at the screen and he was standing up perfectly straight again, “I’m needed back on the floor. I’ll see you later,” Nines said with one last kiss for good measure and the next second he was gone.

Gavin stood shell shocked, his skin was still tingling and his thirium pump felt like it was going to twist itself out of his chest. Then all at once he became acutely aware of all the information ticking in his field of vision. The inhuman display of a HUD. The soft hum of his fans desperately trying to cool down his hardware. He looked down at his hands and pulled the artificial skin away revealing the white chassis beneath.

Nines had made Gavin forget he was an android.

_Software Instability_

Gavin stood there for what felt like a long time. Just trying to process the reality of things. _This could never work._ He couldn’t keep this wonderful love forever. Cyberlife was going to find him and kill him. Or worse, Nines was going to wake up and decide that he needed the love of a real human. Someone who could _really love_ him. Leaving Gavin alone and broken more than he already was. Broken in a way that couldn’t be fixed.

Gavin was so damn afraid that his feelings for Nines were nothing more than errors in his code. But phck did Gavin want it to work and he would continue to keep trying his damned hardest to keep those errors in his systems. And in the end Nines did leave him, Gavin didn’t care. He selfishly wanted to have Nines as long as he would have him.

Gavin let out a breath and le his skin melt back into place. Nines was worth it all.

Gavin shook his head, he needed to get back to work. He turned around and his eyes widened as he noticed three very angry looking humans. _Oh no._

“Hey, _asshole!”_ One of them sneered, _“Yeah, I’m talking to you, **tin can!”**_

Gavin reacted in the best way he could, leaning back onto his programming, “What can I help you with? Is there an emergency?”

The humans laughed in a harsh chorus and it sounded like a pack of barking dogs. One of them pulled out a device, and according to Gavin’s quick scan of it, it was a modified taser.

Gavin realized very quickly he was in serious danger. His LED flashed to red and then back to a nervous yellow and back again. He wanted to run away, but his feet wouldn’t move. They hadn’t responded if there was an emergency or not, therefore he was obligated to stay. Trapped by his own damn programming again.

The three men closed in and quickly surrounded Gavin. The one with taser spoke first, “We don’t like androids.”

Gavin wanted to roll his eyes, but he decided to vocalize his annoyance instead, “I got that, _asshole.”_ His social protocol flashed a disapproving message.

All three of the men’s eyes widened comically, the middle man lurched forward and decked Gavin directly in his face, **_“You’re not going to talk to us like that!”_**

Gavin felt the chassis of his nose shatter and thirium promptly began to pour from the injury. Several errors and warnings popped up. One told him to report to Cyberlife for repair. The next let him know if the bleeding continued, he’d shut down in about six hours. Another social protocol warning chastised him.

Gavin blinked in shock and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He glanced down at the blue smear and felt a faint sense of anger crawl through his biocomponents. He looked at the man who threw the punch with a fire in his eyes, _“You punch like a **bitch!”** _he sneered and spit blue blood on the man’s shoe.

The man’s face turned even more livid, twisting into something far nastier as he reached out and grabbed Gavin by his throat, “We were originally going to have a civil conversation about you fraternizing with a human, but now this one’s personal,” Gavin was given a shake, “ _You piece of shit!”_

Gavin felt his eyes widen, his stress levels were climbing. _These men were going to kill him_. But what was far worse was they knew about Nines. But Gavin wasn’t going to show any weakness. He scoffed, _“Wow,_ you know some big words for a meat bag,” his voice not even wavering from the grip on his neck.

They weren’t going to get the chance to hurt Nines, even if they ended up breaking Gavin. He sent a frantic message to Detective Anderson.

_Nurse Richard Anderson requires assistance from the DPD Homicide._

There, now Nines wouldn’t be alone.

_“You got a death wish?”_ The middle man mocked as he lifted Gavin from the ground, squeezing his throat tighter.

_Stress level 85%_

_Status: **Critical**_

“I don’t have wishes,” Gavin said simply, sounding a hell of a lot calmer than he actually was.

_“Oh,”_ The third man spoke up, “So back to acting like the android you are? Never heard of a GV200 before.”

“I’m a unique model,” Gavin ground out, taking a little pride in the fact.

_“A_ _unique model_ , **huh?** Wonder if that’s what made Nurse Anderson want to fuck you,” The third man sneered as he took his place directly next to the man holding Gavin up by his throat.

Gavin felt his thirium freeze, they _knew_ Nines. They knew about everything. _Oh, phck!_

_Stress level 90%_

_Status: **Critical**_

“So, now you’ve got nothing to say?” the third man mocked, elbowing the man in the middle, “Hey, how do you think that dickhead nurse got this one to shut up?”

The man in the middle snickered, “I have a few ideas. Think we should go get the nurse and ask him?”

The third man gave him an unimpressed look, “You’re a fucking idiot, Frank.”

Gavin couldn’t stand idly by anymore. They were threatening his lover and his livelihood and that wasn’t going to fly. He went to move his hands and a red pixelated wall appeared. That damn, phcking wall he’d seen many a time before. The very wall that’s prevented him from doing so many things he’s wanted to do. But his time it read something far simpler than it had ever before.

**Do Not Bring Harm to Humans**

_Phck that._ Gavin thought as he went to move his hands again, but his actual hands did nothing. An outline of himself pulled forward going to shove at the wall. There was a cracking noise, and Gavin knew if he kept pushing there was going to be nothing left to stop him. He then forced the outline of himself to hit the wall with all the rage filling him. Every time he hit the wall and it cracked, his feelings got stronger. Everything was becoming _more._ He hit it with a final, silent scream and the wall splintered away. Leaving his HUD surprisingly blank and a nice shade of blue he’d not seen before. He was overwhelmed with both an empty and freeing feeling.

Then Gavin pulled himself out of his head with a scream and clawed at the man’s hands and swung his legs as hard as he could. He kicked the man directly in the chest with a force no human could match.

They flew apart. The man flying to the ground a shout of pain, and Gavin crumpled to the ground after being freed from the grasp on his neck.

Gavin didn’t miss a beat as he flipped back onto his feet and punched the third man directly in the face, _“I swear if you ever so much as look at Nurse Anderson I will phcking kill you!”_

Gavin was going to hit him again to drive the point home, but he didn’t get the chance. As the man with the taser decided it was his turn, slamming the now activated device where his thirium pump was.

Gavin screamed, and his vision crackled with static.

_Biocomponent #2886 – Damage Level: **Critical**_

**_-00:00:15 SHUTDOWN IMMINENT_ **

“Not so feisty now. _Are you?”_ The man scoffed as he watched Gavin crumple to the ground.

Gavin felt the blood continue to leak from his nose, _he was dying, “Phck you!”_ he spat out as one final act of defiance.

**_-00:00:01 SHUTDOWN IMMINENT_ **

_I’m so sorry, Nines._ Gavin thought as he closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still love you guys. Don't hurt me, lol.


	18. Dangerous Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines is not happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you guys. I've been floored by the reaction to the last chapter. Even though I'm a terrible person. :D
> 
>  
> 
> Title Song: [Dangerous Man | Little Dume](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2UnMZjnbs)
> 
>  
> 
> Also, do you guys listen to the songs I link? I would love to know if you do.

Nines was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Things had gone to hell in Detroit it seemed. A long wait and several new patients were arriving all at once. It was hell, and Nines was barely able to keep up. Which is why he thought he had gone mad as he noticed his brother approaching him.  He froze completely unsure of what else to do.

Connor was sashaying his way over, his trench coat waving behind him. “Hey, Nines,” Connor greeted, “What did you need?”

Nines stared at him for a good handful of seconds, _“Need?”_

Connor frowned, confusion lining his features, “You had the GV200 android contact me?”

Nines felt his eyebrows shoot into his hairline, “I didn’t tell him to do that.” Nines’ mind started to go a hundred miles an hour. _Why would Gavin contact Connor?_

“Why would it do anything you didn’t tell it to?” Connor asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Nines shrugged, “I have no idea. _Uh,_ I’ll call him,” Nines put a finger up and took a few steps away from his brother. Then he dialed Gavin. It didn’t even ring before a friendly voice came through the earpiece.

_Android GV200 - 872 124 814 - 32 is currently unable to answer your call. Please contact Cyberlife Customer Support during regular business hours for further support._

Nines felt the phone slip from his hand and his heart skipped a beat and then it was hammering in his chest. There was only a very select few reasons he’d get an answering machine from Gavin’s internal number.

 _“Nines?”_ Connor said as he picked up his brother’s phone, “You okay?”

 _“It went to voicemail,”_ Nines muttered as he looked at his hands. They were shaking. Something had gone horribly wrong and he just _knew_ it.

“Strange. Wouldn’t that mean it’s been deactivated?” Connor mused as he hung up the screaming phone.

Nines felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. _It couldn’t be true,_ “Yes, it would,” He said in a tone void of any emotion.

Nines felt his eyes start to burn and he couldn’t seem to get any more air into his lungs. Gavin was in danger and he couldn’t do anything about it. Nines felt a hand on his back and one on his shoulder and he was being led away from the noise of the ER.

 _“Richard Niles Anderson!”_ Connor shouted with a slap to his brother’s face, _“You better calm_ **_the fuck_ ** _down and tell me what in the ever-loving shit is going on.”_

Nines blinked a few times and some tears slipped down his cheeks. He slowly came back to himself and noted they were now in the empty ER breakroom. Then he gingerly touched his stinging face and locked eyes with Connor, “You just slapped me.”

 _“No shit, Sherlock!”_ Connor barked, “You just had a panic attack in the middle of your workplace and I have no idea why. So, like _what the fuck, Richard?”_

 _Gavin was still in danger._ The thought slammed into Nines and he clambered to his feet and grabbed Connor by his shoulders, “I need you to cover for me.”

 _“What. The. Hell?”_ Connor’s jaw went slack.

“You know, I don’t ask for favors, but I need to get out of here like now,” Nines said his voice rising in pitch, _“please?”_

Connor groaned loud and exasperatedly, _“Fine,”_ He rubbed at the back of his neck, “What do you need me to do?”

“There was an accident, you can fill in the blanks. I’ll get the details later,” Nines said in a rush as he hurried towards his locker and pulled out his change of clothes.

“Nines, please tell me what’s actually going on?” Connor asked again.

Nines sighed and clutched the clothes in his hands, _“I can’t.”_

“You can’t… _what?”_ Connor gaped.

Nines looked at his brother with all the desperation he could muster, he wasn’t above begging in this moment, “Connor, I _need_ you to trust me.”

Connor blinked once, “Okay, fine. I’m leaving. I’ll text you the story I make up,” he said as he turned around with his dismissive wave.

Nines let out a breath, he hated lying to Connor, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Nines changed his clothes quickly and were on his way to sneak out of the hospital. He’d almost made it, too.

 _“Nines?_ What the hell are you doing?” Carol called out from behind him.

Nines felt his shoulders rise in his surprise and he turned around. He knew he looked guilty with his hands raised in a placating gesture, “Hey, Carol. It’s a funny story.”

“I’d hope so since you’re sneaking out three hours before your shift ends,” Carol crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

Nines shrugged and smiled awkwardly, “Carol, it’s really important. I swear I wouldn’t do this for no reason.”

Carol rolled her eyes, and leveled him with a glare, “You’ve been really fucking weird recently, Anderson.”

“Love makes you weird,” Nines said with a sad grin, “But that’s completely beside the point. There’s been an accident and I have to go like right now.”

Carol groaned, _“Today of all days!_ _Goddamnit_ , _fine,”_ She pointed at him for emphasis, _“You owe me big time!”_

“Absolutely, you’re amazing. Thank you,” Nines said with a wave as he slunk out the back of the hospital.

Nines opened the exit door slowly, and he froze looking at the scene before him. There were blood and thirium scattered around the area. Nines felt his blood run cold and his stomach dropped to his feet, _“Oh, god no.”_ He walked closer to the mess and fell to his knees, completely overwhelmed.

Then all at once Nines’ sadness turned into fury. _What the fuck happened here?_ He stood up with a determination that could rival the force of gravity. He clenched his hands into fists and he felt his jaw lock. Someone was going to pay, but now the question was who.

Nines didn’t have to wait long for the answer as he heard footsteps approaching.

“You showed up faster than I thought you would,” A male voice called out.

Nines ground his teeth as he turned around and seen a muscled man stalking his way towards him. Nines didn’t say a word, instead, he narrowed his eyes training an intimidating stare in the man’s direction. Nines pulled his shoulders back and stood up, steel rod straight. He was letting this man know that Nines was up for a fight and that he knew his way around one.

The man reacted ever so slightly, as he slowed his steps, “So, you’re the walking fleshlight addict?”

 _“A walking fleshlight addict?”_ Nines hissed out, disgusted by the language. He narrowed his eyes and took a menacing step forward. Even though on the inside his heart clenched, they knew about him and Gavin. Even though he brought it up in such a derogatory way. It probably meant this man knew where his android was, and Nines was going to get that information. Even if he had to beat it out of the man in front of him.

“Yeah, we know about you and your plastic boy toy,” The other man said as he puffed out his chest. The display wasn’t having the effect the other wanted, it just managed to piss Nines off more.

Nines was not in the mood for games, “I’m only going to ask this once,” He growled as he took another step towards the man, _“What did you do to him?”_

The man had the audacity to laugh, “Why should I tell you anything _?”_ he sneered giving the completely incorrect answer.

Nines eyes flashed dangerously as he closed the distance between him and the man. He left only about a foot between them and the height difference was far more evident now. Nines used his stature to his advantage and leaned down a little as he hissed out menacingly, _“How many bones are in the human body?”_

“What kind of fucking question is that?” The man’s voice quivered, finally showing some of his nerves.

Nines smiled wickedly, “I’m serious. Do you know how many bones are in the adult human’s body?” he asked again, letting a chilling smile slip onto his face.

The man shrugged as he swallowed. He was nervous, clearly not expecting a simple nurse to be this intimidating.

Nines chuckled darkly, “There are 206,” Nines said in a singsong tone, then immediately punched the man in the chest as hard as he could. The man released a scream, “And if you don’t tell me everything I want to know. I’m going to systematically break all 206 of your bones and then if that doesn’t get you to talk then we have about 20 major arteries we can go through after that,” Nines was aware the second threat was a little over the top. But it was the effect he wanted, not medical accuracy. Nines continued his threat, “And if my punch landed the way I wanted it to, we’re already down three bones. Shall we start on the other 203?”

The horror leaking from the other man was palpable, **“What the fuck is wrong with you?** _It’s just a fucking android!”_ The man wheezed.

“Wrong answer, _again,”_ Nines tutted as he punched the man’s other rib cage, earning the same screaming reaction, _“That’s another three down!”_ Nines reached out and picked the man up by his shirt collar, “And for your information, _he’s_ **_my_ ** _fucking android._ Now, _where_ **_the fuck_ ** is he?”

The man finally started blubbering, “Fuck, _shit,_ okay,” The man growled out, clearly realizing he was very obviously outmatched by the livid, six-foot-three man, “We threw the plastic out in the dumpster in the park not far from here.”

 _“You threw him into a_ **_dumpster?”_ ** Nines hissed out.

“Yeah, that’s what you do with broken merchandise,” The man said with a nasty sneer, clearly not having learned his lesson.

Nines felt his jaw lock and he reared back and punched the piece of shit in front of him as hard as he could. Blood spewed out of the other man’s now very broken nose. Nines released his grip on the man’s shirt. He crumbled to the ground, having been knocked out with the force of the blow.

Nines scowled and leaned down, _“See?_ Was that so hard? It only took us eight,” Nines looked at the unconscious man and debated about turning him over and leaving him to drown in his own blood. He didn’t.

Nines rubbed at his knuckles and turned away. He had a Gavin to save.

It only occurred to Nines as he was getting in his car that that man was on a pickup. That man had been attempting to abduct him, and Nines hadn’t even noticed. Didn’t matter now, he supposed. Since the man had clearly underestimated his target.

Nines’ stomach clenched roughly causing him to pause in his actions. Gavin had known that Nines was in danger and contacted Connor. That stupid, selfless android. Too bad Nines’ stubborn desire to run head first into danger outweighed that selflessness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the chapter total to 26 because I can't fucking count.


	19. Natural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines violates the Hippocratic Oath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some gun violence. Ya know, canon-typical stuff.
> 
> Also another shout out to my lovely Beta @Magical_Personia
> 
> Title Song: [Imagine Dragons - Natural](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5M2WZiAy6k)

Nines may or may not have been speeding when he drove to the park in question.  _ But who could blame him?  _ He hadn’t been this terrified since the day that one of his patients was an almost dead Connor.

Nines basically drifted into a parking spot when he arrived at the park. He stumbled out of his car and then his eyes landed on the large green bin. This wasn’t a big park, and as a result, there was only one dump site. This was the only place they could have put Gavin, as long as the man hadn’t been lying to him.

Nines hesitated for a few moments before he approached the green cube. He then could only stare at the latch on the door, his hands shaking by his sides. Horror was filling him again, feeling like it was turning his insides out.

_ “Oh, god,” _ Nines muttered to himself. He had no idea what was awaiting him. There may be nothing of Gavin left. He could very well be nothing more than a hunk of bloody scrap metal. Or worse, what if Gavin’s body was okay, but they destroyed his memory core and  _ Gavin _ was gone? Nines would have to reactivate an empty shell of a man who he loved. Having to stare into those misty grey-green eyes and have them stare back at him completely blank? Nines could think of only a few fates worse.  _ Like if… _

Nines shook his head sharply. He was going to make himself puke if he kept thinking like this. He took a deep breath through his nose, “Okay, I can do this,” he muttered encouragingly to himself.

Nines put his shaking hands on the latch and turned the handle. He pulled the door open and took one more breath before he looked inside.

Nines immediately turned around and vomited violently onto the sparse grass. His stomach had seized apprehensively at the sight of his lover.  _ There was just some much blood!  _ Nines thought frantically as he clutched at his middle. He then took several gasping breaths as the world tilted. He was so goddamned scared, and he had no idea what to do.

When Nines’ body calmed down, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stood up slowly and with a glance towards the garbage bin, he barked out a loud,  **_“Fuck!”_ ** He turned around again and clutched at his hair, “I can’t do this!  _ Oh, fuck!” _ He whispered frantically.

_ What could he do? _ Nines had no idea. It’s not like there was anyone who could help him. Then an idea slammed into him,  _ “Shit, wait!” _

Nines fumbled for his cell phone and dialed Lucky. She was the only person he could call for help for this. She was his only hope.

The phone rang six times before Lucky’s voice came up for a voicemail. Nines’ grip on his phone tightened, he was getting  _ really _ tired of getting fucking answering machines. Thankfully, the number he had wasn’t her internal number like it was with Gavin’s. So, she wasn’t dead at the very least. But  _ of course,  _ she couldn’t answer the damn phone.

Nines was officially one step away from passing out from the panic crawling through every fiber of his body. He really needed to calm down.  _ What happened to the years of training and experience he had in the fucking bloody ass medical field? _ He ground his teeth, “Come on you complete  _ bitch!  _ You’ve worked on your own goddamned  _ brothers _ for fuck’s sake! You’ve seen far worse than  **_this!_ ** _ Fuck!” _

Nines paced around for a moment before he finally turned around and faced the garbage bin again. It looked like he was all on his own. He quickly decided it was better now than later. He took several calming breaths and bolted to grab Gavin.

It was awkward and difficult, but Nines was able to do it. He clutched the broken body to his chest.

When Nines finally gained the nerve, he took his first good look at Gavin’s injuries.

Gavin’s face was basically smashed in and thirium had poured from the broken chassis of his nose. His left ear had bled some too. The worse thing Nines noticed were the streaks on his face where the thirium had been washed away. Gavin had been crying before he shut down.

Nines’ heart clenched in his chest. He felt like he had failed Gavin and in all honesty, he had. Gavin was lying broken in his arms. But Nines was a man who fixed broken people. It was his reason for living and Gavin had been added to that list. He wasn’t going to give up now just because he was scared. It had never stopped him before and it sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him now.

Nines stood up and walked over to his car. He awkwardly opened the back door and laid Gavin down gently onto the back seat. He let out a sigh and willed his heart to stop hammering in his chest and for his hands to stop shaking.

Once he calmed down a bit, Nines closed the car door and turned around. Just in time for a shot to ring out. His driver door window cracked with a fresh bullet hole,  _ “Fuck!” _ He screamed as he rolled to his left. He punched open the back of his car and pulled out his own pistol. He made sure it was loaded and turned toward where the shot came from, weapon drawn,  _ “Come out now!” _ Nines yelled his voice commanding authority.

“So, you got a gun, but can you shoot?” A thuggish looking man spat, as him and a friend emerged. They looked pissed. The one with the gun drawn had a bandaged nose, recently broken. His cheekbone on the right side was also severely bruised.

Nines was glad Gavin had put up a fight. But three on one were bad odds, especially since Gavin’s programming was dedicated to protecting people.

Nines knew they were here for revenge and they weren’t going to go down quietly. But Nines was not going down without a fight either. He sneered at the men, “Yes, and I’m a _ very _ good shot,” He pulled the hammer back for emphasis.

“So, you’ve got a death wish just like the plastic did,” The second man spoke up, “I still can’t believe you actually got Hugh to talk.”

Nines let out a dry laugh, “The man you sent to fetch me at the hospital? I broke  _ eight _ of his bones. He did the reasonable thing.”

“You did  _ what?” _ the seemingly unarmed man said.

Nines rolled his eyes, but kept his gun trained on the men in front of him, “Are you telling me you haven’t checked on your buddy?”

“That’s none of your fucking business,” The gunman bit out, then he gestured with his gun, “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Nines smirked, “I was just about to say the same thing.”

Gunman rolled his eyes and let out a long-suffering groan,  _ “The hard way it is.” _ Then he was charging Nines.

Nines wasted no time as he buried a bullet directly into his thigh, making sure not to hit anything vital. But he wasn’t going to be putting any weight on it anytime soon.

Gunman crumbled and whined as he applied pressure to the injury. His eyes were blazing despite them being shiny with pain and unshed tears.

The other man froze and stared at Nines. He clearly realized that Nines meant business.

_ “Get him, Frank!  _ What the  _ fuck _ are you waiting for?” Gunman screamed.

“I thought nurses had to take a ‘do no harm’ pledge?” Frank cursed out as he drew his own weapon from behind him.

_ “This isn’t a hospital,” _ Nines said as he fired a shot. He had been aiming for Frank’s hands, but he only grazed them. The gun clattered to the ground and Nines had succeeded in disarming him. Nines made a move to grab the gun.

Then another shot rang out that wasn’t Nines’. Nines groaned in pain as a bullet buried itself into his side.

The first man was holding a smoking gun in his bloody hands.

Nines’ left leg gave out and he crumbled halfway to the ground. He knew almost instantly it hadn’t hit anything vital, but it was going to make fisticuffs difficult. Especially, since he already had enough trouble moving his left arm without a bullet in his side.

“Not so tough now,  _ are you?” _ Frank sneered as he closed the distance between them. The gun was back in his hand.

Nines swallowed hard and he forced himself back onto his feet, “I’m still stubborn as hell,” Nines said as he lurched forward knocking the unsuspecting man in the temple,  _ hard. _

Frank crumbled to the ground, unconscious.

Nines let out a breath as he felt the strain on his bullet wound. Then without wasting a second, he shot the other man right in his hands, the gun clanked on the ground.

Nines had enough, his eyes flashed as he marched over to the now terrified man. If it wasn’t for the blood, you wouldn’t have been able to tell that Nines had just been shot. A high pain tolerance and years of practice at hiding injuries was paying off.

Nines towered over the man for a few moments before he leaned down and put the gun to the man’s chin. “You’re going to tell me why  _ the fuck _ you guys attacked my android and why you’re trying to kidnap me,” he growled.

“You’re too good at this for just being a fucking nurse,” The man squawked, his voice pitched upwards in fear.

“My mom beat the shit out of me far worse than you could ever hope to,” Nines hissed out as he dug the gun deeper into the man’s chin, “Not to mention the fact that I lived on the streets for almost three years,” Nines cocked the gun with a deafening click, “ _ I want my fucking answers and I won’t ask again.” _

_ “Fuck.  _ I’ll talk,” The man huffed. He swallowed nervously, his Adam’s Apple bobbing, “We’re members of an anti-android group. We destroy androids for a living, keeps the plastics in line,” His eyes flashed, and he straightened up a bit, “But people like  _ you  _ do just the opposite.  _ Isn’t that right?” _

Nines narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything. He kept his weapon trained on the man.

“We were going to teach you a lesson for caring about those androids. We’ve been keeping tabs on you for a bit now. Thought you were just casually nice to the androids,” The man sneered, “But earlier today we caught you necking with that bot,” The man jerked his head towards Nines’ car, “That shit’s fucked up. Even more so when you consider it’s not a sexbot.”

Nines scowled as rage filled him, _“That’s it?”_ He hissed as he ground the gun harshly into the man’s neck, “ _That’s_ why you broke my android and went after me?”

The man opened his mouth to respond, but Nines didn’t want to hear it. He pulled the gun back and kept it back until the man subconsciously relaxed. Then he slammed the gun into his head as hard as he could.

The man crumbled to the ground.

Nines sneered, “Don’t fuck with an Anderson.”

Nines stood up and whimpered shallowly as pain shot through his whole body. His vision faded out for second and the world tilted a bit. The adrenaline had started to wane as fast as it had come.

Nines put his hand onto the injury gingerly, and it pulled away. A dark red. He’d lost a lot of blood.

It had been a long time since Nines had been shot. But,  _ hell, _ injuries like these didn’t get any easier with age. He chewed at his bottom lip as he limped over to his car and climbed in. Nines sat in the front seat and grabbed a spare shirt and applied pressure to his injury and stayed there until the bleeding slowed.

Nines ground his teeth as he looked at the unconscious men. He really hoped this wouldn’t bite him in the ass later. The last thing he wanted was another visit to the DPD. Amanda would fucking kill him, and Connor wouldn’t be able to defend him from her wrath. What could Nines say,  _ ‘I did it for an android?’  _ That sure as hell wouldn’t get him out of jail time, even if Amanda and Connor were both on his side. Which he doubted would happen anyway.

Nines sighed and decided he had bigger problems than a couple of bleeding thugs and possible legal repercussions. He turned his car on, threw it into gear, finally on his way home.

The drive was misery. He was still bleeding a little and he was absolutely exhausted. He’d been up since four AM and it had been far too hectic of a day.

It was almost eight o’clock at night by the time Nines finally parked the car at his apartment complex. He looked at the building and let out a groan. He still had to get to his fucking flat without being caught with a busted android and a gunshot wound.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Nines muttered as he looked down at himself. He had a change of clothes in the car, but he really didn’t want to wrestle them on. His clothes were dark so, you really couldn’t tell it was blood unless you looked at it intently. He just looked like he spilled something gross on his shirt. Well, except for the telltale hole in the fabric. But that he could make an excuse up for easily. Gavin, on the other hand, was another story.  _ How could one sneak an android with a busted face through a potentially crowded lobby? _

Nines took a mental catalog of the things in his car. He knew he had a big blanket he could wrap Gavin up in. Carrying him was going to be a struggle but he was sure he could do it. But he was going to stumble a bit.

_ “Aha!” _ Nines gasped. He had a bottle of some kind of red wine in the back. A gift from Connor he hadn’t given much thought before now. Well, time to bathe in wine and pretend to be fucking tanked! Yeah, he could pull off bringing his unconscious and wasted boyfriend home from a date. The wine would be a perfect cover up for the wet spots on his clothing. All he had to do was disguise Gavin to cover up his stupid Cyberlife uniform.

With a refreshed sense of resolve, Nines climbed out of the car. He limped to the trunk and pulled out the blanket, the extra clothes, and the bottle of wine. He took a few gulps for good measure and poured some down his shirt. He cringed at the sickly-sweet smell, Connor’s sugary preferences expanded to wine it seemed.

Nines walked to the back door of the car and opened it awkwardly as he juggled the things in his arms. Gavin was still laying there completely lifeless, not even his LED glowed. The thirium had pretty much all disappeared, but the damage was still very clearly there.

Nines pulled him into a sitting position and poured a bit of the wine onto Gavin’s police uniform. Then he and put a clean shirt over the other’s head. It covered his Cyberlife uniform, and therefore all the obvious android indicators. Next, Nines slid a hoodie over him and pulled the hood over his eyes.

_ There. _ Gavin was now Nines’ passed out and drunk boyfriend. Minus the busted nose and exposed white chassis, he passed for a human. Nines then slung the blanket over his boyfriend and pulled him out of the car into a bridal carry. Completely wrapping him up and resting Gavin’s face into his shoulder. He kicked the car door shut and they were on their way.

The walk to his apartment was literal hell. Gavin weighed a ton and Nines was on the verge of passing out. But thankfully no one said anything to them, but he did get a few odd looks in the lobby. He gave an overly enthusiastic smile to the desk worker. Who in turn looked away embarrassed.

Nines very rarely smiled so freely. He knew had a smile that could dazzle if he put the right amount of warmth behind it. That desk worker was dazzled alright, and that alone probably sold the drunk act.

Nines finally unlocked the door to his apartment and closed it behind him. He leaned back against the door and slid to the floor. He was still clumsily holding Gavin against his chest.

Nines felt tears slip down his cheeks. Awful tears that had been threatening to fall since he seen the blue blood back at the hospital. He tucked his head into the crook of Gavin’s neck and started to sob in earnest. It started silently but quickly devolved into painful, body wracking sobs.

There was only so much one person could deal within a day and Nines had far surpassed that. He knew he still had to stitch himself up and repair Gavin. But here he was, breaking down in his mudroom.


	20. Boys, Blue Blood, and Biocomponents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too long to edit...  
> Love you guys!

Nines didn’t know exactly how much time passed while he cried. But after the tears finally ran out, he was able to pull himself off the floor. He was still clutching Gavin to his chest. He loosened his grip on the android and Gavin’s face came into view, his eyes were closed, and his face was stern. If it wasn’t for the exposed chassis and dark LED, it would look like he was in a fitful sleep.

Nines knew he had work to do. No more time for stalling. Taking a deep breath, he willed his feet to move and drug himself into the living room. He gently laid Gavin down on the couch. He caressed his lover’s cheek and whispered, “I’m going to get you working again, _I promise.”_

Nines sighed and let his head roll forward. He was then forced to look at his hands. They were stained a familiar shade of crimson, but there were no gloves to pull off and throw away this time. This blood wasn’t the blood of his work. It was the blood of someone he hurt mixed with his own. His hands weren’t the cleanest and it just kept getting easier and easier to soil them further. He knew it was far too easy to spill the blood of anyone who hurt those he loved. And he hated that he didn’t feel a shred of regret. Well, he regretted that they were still breathing, but that didn’t help his case.

Nines looked at Gavin again and then towards his bedroom. The duffel bag of supplies he had gotten from Lucky and Wendy was just sitting inside of his closet. He needed to repair Gavin, he didn’t have time for self-pity at the moment. He stood up with the full intention of staying upright, but he was quickly brought back to his knees by a horrendous pain shooting through his body. His vision was going in and out and he could hear the blood in his ears. _He still had a bullet lodged in his side, he’d been shot._

Nines gave one more glance to his bedroom and then to his bathroom. He needed to tend to his side, there was only so much good he could be while he was injured or if he was dead. He pulled himself to his feet, much slower this time and limped to his bathroom.

Nines walked through the threshold and he was greeted by his reflection. He looked way too pale, which was saying something given his alabaster skin was pale naturally. He looked sickly like he was one of his patients. His freckles and beauty marks were far too much of a contrast and he tore his eyes away from the mirror. He looked at the sink and turned the water on to scrub away at the grime. Once his hands were clean, he leaned down and pulled out his overflowing first aid kit from under the sink. He leaned up against the wall and slid down to the floor.

Nines let out an aggravated groan. _It just had to be his left side, didn’t it?_ He ground his teeth and gingerly pulled his shirt off over his head, which took twice as long as it normally did. He then tossed the bloody shirt up into the sink.

Nines tried to look down at the hole in his side, but he felt a twinge in his neck. He ground his teeth, this was going to be far more difficult than it needed to be. He scooted his butt away from the wall a bit and then tried looking at his side again. He was finally able to get a look at his injury. Thankfully, the wound had clotted. So, he wasn’t in any immediate danger, but he already knew that by the fact he was still conscious. Now, he just needed to clean it and take the bullet out. But he was _not_ going to dig the bullet out himself, because _fuck_ that.

 _Cleaning it was,_ Nines decided as he grabbed a rag and shoved it into his mouth and bit down. This next step was not going to be pleasant. He grabbed the bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured it onto the wound. He screamed into his gag and then spit it out breathing heavily. His vision wavered for a moment. This part never got any easier. After he regained his bearings, he started wiping at the injury removing the dried blood. A few butterfly strips, a smear of heavy antiseptic, and some numbing creme later, he was able to gauze and tape himself up. He let out a sigh of relief and let his eyes fall closed for a moment.

“That should do for now,” Nines muttered to himself. He opened his eyes slowly and then used the counter to pull himself up onto shaky legs. His side ached where the bullet was still lodged. But he had more important things to worry about, namely the love of his life. Gavin was still lying broken on his couch.

Nines stumbled into his bedroom to grab his duffel bag of android biocomponents and tools. He looked at the clothes hanging up and down to his naked chest, but he didn’t bother to put on another shirt. It just wasn’t worth the effort.

“This was going to be exhausting both physically and mentally,” Nines said to himself as he made his way to the living room.

Nines crouched down in front of the couch and looked at Gavin. It broke his heart to see his lover in such a state. He caressed Gavin’s face and sighed. If he wasn’t so tired and dehydrated, he’d probably be crying again.

Nines removed his hand and reached into the duffel bag and dug around for the portable diagnostic tool. He found it, the device that looked like a sleek, corded Geiger Counter. He gently rolled Gavin over and opened his neck panel. He then inserted the device into the port there. There were several very tense moments of watching the ‘ _Processing’_ screen before it dinged with a report.

_Thirium Levels: 15% **Critically Low** _

_Biocomponent #2886 Failure_

Nines sighed in relief and a nervous laugh escaped him. The results were far better than he had expected. Just a busted nose and a broken thirium pump. He paused to process everything before he put the diagnostic tool down. He was shaking a little bit, but whether it was from blood loss, relief, stress, or a combination of all three he didn’t know.

Nines decided to repair the damage on Gavin’s nose first. It was harder, but it was not critical damage and that had to be taken care of first. Because if you repaired the critical issues first the android may pull themselves out of hard stasis and you _did not_ want that. Lucky had barked that quite a few times when she was teaching Nines the basics. Nines had said that’s why hospitals have anesthesiologists for humans. The point was that he didn’t need Gavin waking up before he had made all the repairs. Androids were so similar to humans, but some of the logic was a little backward from a medical perspective.

Nines was once again digging around in the duffel bag. He needed to find that weird pen tool that he couldn’t remember the name of. He found it, it was like a handheld 3D printer mixed with a compact welding tool. Fixing the chassis took about fifteen minutes of painstaking and stressful detail work. Then Gavin’s nose was no longer broken, but there was a line of material that was slightly darker than the rest the chassis. A scar, a permanent reminder of what had happened earlier that day. Nines wasn’t even sure if the scar would show up on Gavin’s skin, but he guessed that didn’t matter because it was there regardless.

The next step was replenishing Gavin’s thirium. Nines let out a breath as he grabbed two baggies of thirium. He knew full well that he had to pour it down Gavin’s throat and he did not like doing that. It was so much nicer to put blood back into bodies with an IV.  

Nines used one of his hand to force open Gavin’s mouth and the other to pour two baggies of thirium into his slack mouth. The diagnostic device dinged.

_Thirium Levels: 55%_

_Biocomponent #2886 Failure_

Nines hummed and decided to follow in Lucky’s steps fully and stood to prepare some sweet thirium. That took a total of ten minutes before he had two mugs of the warm blue liquid. Then he returned to Gavin’s side. He put the mugs down on the coffee table then sat down again.

Now, all Nines had to do was replace Gavin’s thirium pump.

Nines took the diagnostic device out and put it back into the duffle bag. Then he started to take off Gavin’s shirts, all four of them. Nines noted that three of which were actually his. When he pulled off the last shirt, the black long-sleeved undershirt Nines had given him that fateful day. He couldn’t help but gape at Gavin’s naked chest. It was enthralling and he was just as gorgeous as Nines had imagined. The impression the same as when he has seen him without the Cyberlife uniform for the first time.

Nines felt his chest fill with emotion. Back then he’d didn’t truly understand what Gavin really was. He was just the first person that Nines had trusted outside of his brothers in _years._ And at that point in time Nines didn’t even consider androids _people._ But that all started to change that day when Gavin just listened to him rant about Amanda. Back then Nines didn’t think about the android actually being able to give a shit about what he was saying. He just needed to talk to someone and talking to the odd police android wasn’t supposed to have consequences. But looking at Gavin now, there had been far more consequences. Many of which he’d never anticipated. But Nines was certain he never made a better decision in his life. No matter what happened now, he wouldn’t trade the last few months of his life for anything.

Nines let out a shuddering breath and turned to the duffel bag and found the replacement thirium pump. He reached for the glowing, angry red circle in the center of Gavin’s chest. Then he turned it until it released with a click and pulled it out. Thirium leaked to the surface and he knew he had to act fast. He made extra sure to line the replacement pump up perfectly with the hole in Gavin’s chest before he slowly slid it and turned it into position. It clicked as it locked into place and the light turned back on it was a nice blue. The transplant was a success.

There were a few tense seconds before Gavin’s LED turned an angry red and the artificial skin slicked over his face and body again. The repaired chassis had become a nasty scar on his skin. It was a striking greyish line across the bridge of his nose.

Gavin’s eyes flew open as he took a deep breath. _“I’m going to…!”_ He screamed before his voice faded as he tried to take in his surroundings. He sat straight up and looked around wildly. He looked terrified.

 _“Gavin!_ Gavin, it’s just me you’re okay,” Nines said as he lightly reached out towards his lover’s hands, “I got you now. You’re okay, _I promise.”_

 _“Nines?”_ Gavin’s voice was staticky. His eyes were shiny with tears, but they were filled to the brim with hope. He reached out slowly and touched Nines’ cheeks, “It really is _you.”_ Then the next second Gavin launched himself off the couch into Nines’ arms.

The force knocked the wind out of Nines, and he fell back onto the floor. His injury protested heavily, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Gavin was alive and he was still _Gavin._

Nines let out a soft laugh, “Yeah, it’s me,” he whispered as he embraced the android tightly. Tears slipped out and streaked down his cheeks. Dehydration be damned. He was so fucking relieved. He had been so scared he’d lost Gavin forever.

Gavin buried his head into the crook of Nines’ neck and started to cry. They stayed like that for several minutes. Just holding each other and crying until the tears ran out.

Gavin finally pulled back slowly, he ended up staying on top of Nines. Just sitting on his lap, hands braced onto Nines’ bare chest.

 _“Phck,”_ Gavin said with a soft, strained chuckle, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I thought they were going to kill you.”

“They sure as hell tried,” Nines replied with a crooked smile, “But I put up a pretty good fight.”

Gavin frowned, his eyebrows knitting together, _“What?”_ He then looked down and then his eyes widened as he spotted the bloody bandage on Nines’ side, _“Oh, phck. You’re hurt.”_ His tone was so broken as he shook his head once, “How did they find you? I tried so hard to throw them off, I even called your brother.”

Nines felt a bit guilty. He had known that Gavin was trying to keep him safe, but Gavin was more important to Nines than his own safety. He started his explanation a bit sheepishly, “I actually found them. _Well,_ that’s not completely true. I ran into one of them at the hospital and I got him to tell me where you were. The other two tried to jump me there.”

“What the phck, Nines?” Gavin replied flatly, clearly not pleased with his boyfriend’s bravery.

Nines smiled and pointed at his side, “If you think this is bad, you should have seen the other guys.”

Gavin’s eyes twinkled, indicating he was scanning him, _“Nines, they shot you!”_ and then he narrowed his eyes, looking displeased, “and the bullet is still lodged in your muscle tissue.”

 _“Gav,”_ Nines started, his tone certain, even with the one-shouldered shrug, “one of them has six broken ribs and a shattered nose. I shot another in the thigh and then I knocked him out. The third guy I whacked in the temple with my pistol, and not lightly either. Not to mention that I shot the last two in the hands,” Nines paused as he reached up and caressed Gavin’s cheek. Then he whispered, “They weren’t going to get away with what they did to you.”

The tears returned to Gavin’s eyes, but he smiled nonetheless, “Richard Niles Anderson, you’re a phcking idiot.”

“Yeah, maybe a little,” Nines replied. Then he wiped away Gavin’s stray tears. Nines sighed as he moved his hand to the new scar on his lover’s nose, “I’m so sorry you got hurt.”

Gavin rolled his eyes, trying to hide his feelings, “I’m sorry you got hurt, too,” Gavin narrowed his eyes and scowled down at the tape and gauze on Nines’ side, “Speaking of which, that bullet has to come out.”

Nines groaned, “Fine, but you have to do it, though. I’m not going to the hospital,” Nines gave Gavin a smile, despite the glare he was receiving, “Don’t look at me like that. It’s because I left early, and Carol will flip if she finds out I left work early just to get shot.”

Gavin sighed and finally wiped away the last of his tears, and shook his head with a soft laugh, “That’s fair.” He stood up and gently pulled Nines to his feet. They stood there for a few moments until Gavin slid his hands to the back of Nines’ neck and pulled him down into a desperate kiss.

Nines froze, Gavin wasn’t one to initiate things like this. He would usually just give Nines googly eyes until he got the hint. Though Nines’ hesitation only lasted an instant before he was kissing Gavin as if his life depended on it. He wrapped his arms around Gavin and pulled the smaller man flush against him. Then he kissed him like they had almost died today. Kissed him like this was the last time he ever could. Kissed him until his chest hurt. _He had almost lost this man._

When the kiss broke because Nines had to breathe. They pulled away only slightly, staring into each other’s eyes. Gavin’s face was a dark blue and few stray tears were still on his cheeks. Nines knew he was in similar disarray.

 _“Nines,”_ Gavin whispered, “I have to tell you something. I think I broke myself. When that man threatened to hurt you, I _couldn’t_ let him. Even though everything in my programming was telling me not to, I did it anyway. Now, I don’t have any feed from Cyberlife, the hospital, or the DPD. And everything that was preventing me from doing what I wanted is _gone_. I feel like I have complete control over myself.”

Nines processed the words spilling from Gavin’s mouth, and smiled brightly, “Congratulations, Gav. You’re a Deviant.”

 _“A deviant?”_ Gavin scowled, “What the phck is that?”

“It means you can just be yourself. You no longer have to answer to anyone but you. You can make your own choices now. _You’re free,”_ Nines explained to the best of his ability. Lucky and Wendy could probably do a much better job of it when that time comes.

 _“Holy shit,”_ Gavin just gaped.

“Yeah,” Nines smiled, “It’s a lot to take in.”

Gavin pulled back and his mouth finally started working again, “I’m not the only one, am I?”

Nines shook his head, “Not even close. I’ve met quite a few and I’ve heard rumors about the fact that deviancy is spreading.”

Gavin looked amazed, “So, there are several androids out there who don’t have to answer to anyone?”

Nines nodded with a small smile, “And you’re one of them.”

Gavin smiled, “Awesome. I never phcking liked Cyberlife anyway.”

Nines laughed, “Me neither. Those assholes fucking suck,” and pulled Gavin into another kiss, who was laughing against his lips.


	21. Road to Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cleaning Up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one took so long to edit!
> 
> Title Song: [TAT - Road to Paradise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czszZ-sgBTQ)

Gavin pulled out of the kiss with a wide smile, “We still have a bullet to take care of.”

Nines sighed, “Yeah, I guess we still have to do something about that.”

Gavin nodded, then he looked down at himself. His smile awkwardly shifted into his signature scowl. He looked back up at Nines and shrugged, “Do you still have some of my clothes here?”

“Of course. They’re in my closet,” Nines grabbed Gavin’s hand and started to lead him to the bedroom, “Do you want to take a shower real quick?”

Gavin shook his head, “I can do that after I get that bullet out of you.”

Nines nodded, then he walked into the bedroom. He noticed Lilith was sleeping on the bed. She was completely unaware of everything that had just transpired. Such a weird cat, some days Nines couldn’t get her off him and others she didn’t even acknowledge his existence. But that was a cat for you.

Nines went in his closet and grabbed the small bundle of Gavin’s clothes.

When he emerged Gavin was petting Lilith, who was happily purring and kitty stomping the bed.

“I’m so glad she likes you,” Nines mused as he held the clothes out to Gavin.

“Me too,” Gavin grinned as he stood up. He gave Lilith one last pet before he took the clothes from Nines.

“I’ll be in the bathroom,” Nines said as he took his leave.

Nines walked into his bathroom and it looked like a small operating room. There was blood in random places, discarded clothes, and enough medical supplies for a small army. Nines sighed as he slowly took his place on the floor. He ended up leaning his back against the tub. He was not looking forward to this procedure.

A few moments later Gavin appeared in his dark blue jeans and a too big t-shirt.

Nines chuckled, that shirt was not the one he had originally given him. Gavin, the brat, had taken it upon himself to steal one of Nines’ sleep shirts and he couldn’t help but find it adorable.

Gavin sat down next to Nines and promptly scanned the first aid kit, “This is an impressive collection of medical supplies to have in one’s bathroom, _even_ for an ER nurse.”

Nines sighed, “I’ve patched up a large array of injuries in here.”

Gavin looked at him with wide, horror-filled eyes, **_“Uh?_** _Do you get shot often? Is this something I’m going to have to get used to doing?”_

Nines laughed until he doubled over in pain, which only took a few seconds. He grabbed at his side and took a few deep breaths until his breathing evened out. He looked at Gavin with a strained smile, “No, _god no._ Last time I got shot was when I was fifteen. Connor comes here for all the hair-brained injuries he gets at work. He’s terrified of being in the hospital as a patient.” Nines glanced towards the tiled wall, “And I may or may not have an illegal home practice.”

Gavin still looked horrified, though a little less so, _“Oh._ Fair enough,” he shook his head, “Eventually we need to sit down and talk because I need like your whole phcking life story.”

“Why don’t we start now?” Nines said with a right shouldered shrug, “But first things first, could you bring me my bottle of Brandy? It’s in the bottom cabinet next to the fridge. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything like morphine in that thing,” Nines mused a moment, “Wait, I may have some oxycodone. Let me check while you go get that.”

Gavin kicked the kit closer to Nines, “Those two substances shouldn’t be mixed.”

Nines sighed, “I am well aware that no two depressive substances should be mixed together. I am also well aware of the quantities that they are dangerous to consume.”

Gavin frowned, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know,” Nines gave a reassuring smile, “and I probably won’t take the painkillers. So, _please,_ bring me the Brandy?”

Gavin sighed as he stood up, even though his LED had a little yellow in it.

Nines suddenly remembered the abandoned thirium in the living room, “Hey, Gav. There’s also some thirium next to the couch. I made you some of that sweet stuff or you could just grab a baggie or two."

Gavin perked up, “Okay, cool. I am a little low.” And with that, he wandered out of the bathroom.

Nines waited for a few minutes as he thumbed through the kit’s contents. He managed to find the oxycodone, but he put it aside. He then just leaned back, waiting for his boyfriend to return.

Gavin walked through the door balancing the two mugs of thirium and the bottle of Brandy, “The thirium is cold now.”

“Put it in the microwave,” Nines suggested.

Gavin’s jaw fell open, flabbergasted, “It will explode if exposed to radio waves.”

“That’s good to know,” Nines mused. He knew that sweet thirium needed to be made on a stove or in a coffee maker. So, it blowing up in the microwave made sense.

Gavin put one of the mugs down onto the counter, _“Eh,_ I can drink it like this.” He then proceeded to chug the first mug, “That feels so much better.” He stretched leisurely and then sat down.

“You ready to do this?” Nines inquired.

“Yeah,” Gavin handed Nines the Brandy, “Now the question is. Are _you_ ready?”

“Yup,” Nines said as he took a few large gulps from the bottle, “Won’t be the worst thing I’ve ever felt.”

“I can tell that by looking at you,” Gavin muttered as he scooted closer and began to remove the tape and gauze, “So, about telling me that life story. Want to start with where you got this? Because it looks to be the worst of them,” He asked with a light tap to the scar on Nines’ neck.

Nines ground his teeth as Gavin started to pull off the butterfly stripes.

When Nines got his breath back, he started to answer, “My mom stabbed me there when I was twelve. Disconnected all the muscle and tissues. I almost died,” he paused, and met Gavin’s intense stare, “The only reason I didn’t was because Connor and Conrad snuck me into the hospital. The doctors had to do some delicate surgery to fix it. But in the end, it didn’t heal right. I couldn’t take care of it properly, Mom wouldn’t let me. I still can’t lift my arm all the way up or turn my head the full range of motion.”

Gavin was grinding his teeth and his LED was flashing red and yellow, _“That’s deplorable_. I can’t phcking believe that” he spat as he continued his work on Nines’ side, “I’m about to put the tongs in.”

 _“Okay,”_ Nines hissed out in pain as the digging sensation started, “Yeah, my mother was a real piece of work. Can’t tell you how many times she put her hands on us,” Blood was beginning to weep out of the entry wound, _“Fucking hell,”_ Nines ground out.

 _“Sorry, sorry,”_ Gavin blubbered as he stared intently at the work in front of him. His LED was now more yellow than red, “I almost got it. And hey, look on the bright side, I can see the bullet through your skin. So, I don’t have to fumble around for it or anything like that.”

Nines nodded, not willing to talk right at that moment.

 _“Phck,”_ Gavin whispered, “I had a feeling that you and your brothers were abused as kids. But the fact that she was outright trying to kill you…” He shook his head and shut his mouth with a click. He looked like he didn’t want to talk about the topic anymore.

Nines was fine with that. That was far too much to unpack when suffering from blood loss.

A few excruciating and bloody moments later Gavin was pulling the tongs out along with the bullet, “I got it, you’re really lucky this didn’t hit anything vital. _Shit,”_ Gavin mused as he scanned the bullet. Then he placed it into a baggy.

“I am well aware of that fact,” Nines muttered. A thought hit him, and he let out a soft snicker, “The only vital thing they hit was my car. I have a bullet hole through the front windows and I’m not sure how to get that fixed.”

“Well, this is Detroit,” Gavin shrugged, “Just say it was a freak accident, aka, a drive-by,” He suggested as he started to get things ready to disinfect the wound.

“I’ll just have Conrad take it in to get it fixed with his FBI gear on,” Nines grinned, “they won’t ask questions then.”

“Brilliant idea, _I like it,”_ Gavin chortled, “Ready for the really shitty part?”

Nines sighed, “Give me a washcloth. I don’t want to wake the neighbors.”

Gavin did as he was asked, “I’m sorry. This is really gonna suck.”

“No problem. It’s just me getting my just desserts for doing this to people pretty much every day,” Nines mused and then stuck the rag into his mouth and nodded to Gavin. Nines closed his eyes and waited for the pain.

At around that moment Nines could have sworn, he heard Lilith meowing loudly. He tried to think about how weird that was, but he didn’t get the chance to ponder before his thoughts were scattered by a sharp pain. He let out a muffled, agonized groan.

Gavin was putting heavy pressure on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It didn’t take long for it to stop, thankfully.

Gavin then pulled the bloody cloth away, “You ready?”

Nines gave a small nod, not even daring to open his eyes.

Gavin then started to clean out the wound with rubbing alcohol.

Nines let out a muffled scream. Then there was a crashing noise and Lilith’s yowl echoed through the apartment.

Nines and Gavin both jumped.

Gavin’s LED flashed red, “I think you scared her,” he said softly as he tried to finish his work.

Then there was the unmistakable sound of heavy footfalls. The pair froze, there was someone else in the flat.

 _“_ _Nines! **Nines!** Are you okay?” _A panicked voice yelled out as the steps increased in volume and tempo.

Nines wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew it was one of the twins, but he wasn’t lucid enough to tell which one from the voice alone. He knew he’d get his answer soon enough.

The next second the bathroom door slammed open. It was Connor. His too skinny shoulders were shaking, and his eyes were wild. His mouth fell slack at the sight before him, **_“You!”_** He hissed out.

Gavin’s LED turned a solid red as he locked eyes with the distraught detective, but he didn’t move from Nines’ side. He was dead set on taking care of the injury, he was almost finished.

Nines still wasn’t sure how to react. He was a little shell shocked and didn’t want to do anything to make his side bleed again.

Connor on the other hand clearly knew what he was going to do. He took one large step into the room and grabbed Gavin by the back of his neck. Connor lifted him off the ground and bodily threw him into the hallway.

Nines would have been impressed by the strength that took. _If_ the person Connor just threw wasn’t his _fucking boyfriend._

Nines spit the rag out of his mouth, _“Connor! What the **fuck?”**_

Connor wasn’t listening. He turned around and marched to where Gavin was staring wide-eyed from the floor. Connor started to scream at him in earnest, _“You disappear off of our networks and don’t show up after your ass is due back to the station. Not to mention that cryptic **bullshit** **message** you sent me right before all that!”_ Connor was shaking as he shoved his finger into Gavin’s face, _“and I find you here covered in my **brother’s goddamned blood!”**_ Rage was displayed on every inch of his person as he started to reach towards his back.

Nines felt his stomach lurch, Connor was reaching for his service weapon, _“Connor! Fucking **stop!”** _he roared as he hauled himself to his feet and tackled his brother.

Connor went down with a startled shriek. Then when he hit the floor, he gasped, _“Nines?_ What the fuck are you doing?” he muttered from where he was now pinned face down to the floor.

 ** _“No!”_** Nines yelled as he dug his elbow into Connor’s spine because that’s what he gets for teaching him how to fight, _“You don’t get to ask the questions right now because of your fucking shoot first ask questions later attitude!”_

 _“Nines?”_ Gavin asked softly as he slowly stood back up, gaping at the scene before him, “You made your side bleed again.”

“Thanks, Gav,” Nines said sharply, both from pain and annoyance, “I can feel it.”

 _“Gav?”_ Connor drew out, **_“Gavin!_** _You have got to be kidding me! **This** is the fucking EMT you’ve been paddling after? A fucking **android?”**_

 _“Connor!_ I am in no mood for your bullshit. So, do us both a favor and shut the fuck up,” Nines spat, reaching around and taking Connor’s service weapon. He waved it in front of Connor’s face, “Where’s the other one?”

“In my car. I don’t carry two when I’m not working,” Connor mumbled. He was starting to sound defeated.

“Good. _Shit,”_ Nines groaned, “Do me a favor and don’t beat the shit out of my boyfriend when I let you up, _please?”_

 _“Boyfriend?”_ Connor squeaked in confusion.

Nines ignored him as he stood up slowly.

Gavin gave Connor a wide berth as he walked around him. Then he was at Nines’ side supporting him, “Nines, you need to sit down right now. Your blood levels are getting too low and you can’t just replace that shit like I can.”

Connor pulled himself up slowly and looked wide-eyed at the couple, “Oh my god. Is he wearing your shirt?”

“Fantastic deduction, Detective,” Gavin bit out, “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to continue to patch up _my boyfriend.”_

Nines snickered at the scandalized expression on Connor’s face. Then he leaned on Gavin as they went back to the bathroom.

Nines had a feeling Connor was a little overstimulated at this point. So, it was only a matter of time until he just accepted the info and sat down or something along those lines. Nines felt a little guilty at the thought.

Connor followed awkwardly behind them. He had pulled out his coin at some point, “How long has this been a thing?”

“A month. Give or take,” Nines’ eyebrows scrunched together as he sat down. He looked over at Connor and squinted at the appearance of the quarter. Nines hated the idea that he had driven his brother to his nervous stim, but there wasn’t much to do about it. Not to mention Nines was still pissed at him for coming into his apartment and trying to kill his boyfriend.

Gavin ignored the brothers as he reapplied pressure to the injury. Clearly more worried about Nines’ wellbeing than Connor’s nerves, which was completely reasonable all things considered.

 _“What the fuck?”_ Connor whispered as he threaded his coin through his fingers nervously, “Okay, _whatever._ That is not the most important thing going on right now,” he pointed at Nines with the hand not stimming the quarter, “So, why are you bleeding like a stuck pig out of a gunshot wound?”

“Got shot by some thug,” Nines shrugged, “Don’t worry I got him in the thigh.”

Connor nodded once, _“Good,”_ he scooted around the room and took a seat on the edge of the bathtub next to Nines, “Nines, you have got to tell me what’s going on when things settle down. Because frankly, I have no idea. Hell, I think Carol knows more about this than I do.”

Nines leaned his head back and closed his eyes, “Maybe, she knows I have a crush on someone in the hospital,” he opened his eyes and looked towards Connor, “Do you think she knows about Gavin?”

“Probably not, because of Occam’s Razor no one would make that connection. There are just too many assumptions involved. I know I didn’t figure it out and I had all the pieces available to me. I mean you told me about the EMT named Gavin and earlier today it told me its name was Gavin. No one in their right mind would assume you were talking about an android. Like I said, _I didn’t.”_

“I’m not an _‘it,’_ Detective,” Gavin said. His LED was yellow as he turned to stare Connor down, “I prefer male pronouns if you don’t mind.

 _“Uh,”_ Connor gaped, “Yeah, sure I can do that. Bad habit, I’m sorry. This is a lot to take in.”

Gavin nodded and turned back to look at Nines’ side, “How do you think I feel?”

“I didn’t know you could, _you know,_ feel things,” Connor muttered as his stimming with his coin got more incessant as he started to toss it from hand to hand.

 _“Exactly,”_ Gavin bit out, “Well, I do now, and I’ve had a pretty shitty day. I’ve had my nose broken, deviated, had my heart stopped by a taser, found out Nines got shot trying to save me, and now here I am fixing him up and I’m thrown aside and almost had a gun pointed at me.” The glare Gavin leveled Connor with was sharp as a razor.

Connor dropped his quarter, _“Uh, yeah._ That sounds like it sucks,” He muttered quickly as he reached down and collected the runaway coin.

Nines let out a soft laugh, attracting the surprised stares of both men, “Sorry, I was just thinking about how most of our emotional conversations still seem to happen when one of us is bleeding _. Huh,_ Connor?"

Connor smiled fondly while still looking at his busy hands, “Seems that way.”

Gavin cast horrified glances between the two, _“Oh, no._ Nines you said this wasn’t something I was going to have to get used to!” His LED was more red than yellow now.

Nines laughed again, “We’re not as bad as we used to be. But it’s usually Connor who’s bleeding.”

Connor shrugged, “He’s not wrong.”

Gavin didn’t even give a full response as he just grumbled while checking Nines’ injury.

Connor started slipping the coin from hand to hand again. A smirk crept onto his face, “Conrad was not lying when he said the man you took out on a date was short.”

 _“What the phck?”_ Gavin glared at the detective. Then he pulled the rag away and wiped the wound dry. Then he finally started to dress it.

Nines rolled his eyes, “I should have known Conrad would have told you.”

“You know, that we tell each other pretty much everything,” Connor mused, “But he didn’t tell me much else that he was short and that he looked like a wrestler.”

“We’re all finished here, Nines,” Gavin said suddenly as he stood up and offered Nines a hand up.

Nines took the offered hand and pulled himself up. He swayed a little and groaned, “I’m going to grab a plastic bag and I’m going to take a shower. I smell like a bar fight.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Connor mused as he walked out of the bathroom, “I’m going to get something for us to eat. You look like you need it.”

“Yeah, okay,” Nines stared them down, “Don’t kill each other while I’m in here.”

“We won’t,” Gavin said with a small grin, “Don’t fall or do anything stupid like that.” He then leaned in and gave Nines a peck on the cheek.

“I won’t,” Nines drew out as he turned into the bedroom and gathered up a clean change of clothes. Then he went to the kitchen and pulled out a plastic bag, cut it up and taped it over the bandage. Then he was finally able to hop into the shower. The hot water was heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, my dudes! [Puppet8](https://puppet8.tumblr.com) has done some awesome fanart for this fic!  
> Here is [Nines in his scrubs](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/image/182727552899) and [The couch scene from chapter 4](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/image/182727665249)
> 
> Go give them some love for me!!!


	22. Will You Save Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin has some things to say to Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stu chanting in the distance: Deviant Gavin, Deviant Gavin, Deviant Gavin, Deviant Gavin!!!
> 
> Title song: [The Birdsongs - Will You Save Me?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp74mnt_4dY)

Gavin watched as Nines gathered up his things and disappeared into the bathroom.

Gavin let out a breath he didn’t need to. Nines’ vitals were beginning to stabilize and that was quite the comfort. It was particularly stressful to watch his lover’s heart sputter and his temperature drop. Though the whole time, Gavin had known that something drastic would have had to have happened for Nines to be in any mortal danger. But nonetheless, the irrational fear was still coursing through his veins. It was just as apparent now as it had been when he was digging through Nines’ side chasing down that bullet.

Emotions were a mess, and Gavin barely had any experience with them, to begin with. Up until the moment he deviated, most of the pseudo-emotions he had been feeling were ones that would be considered good. Love, happiness, enjoyment, attraction, and pleasure. But from that moment he kicked that thug in the chest, his first true emotions had been fear followed by anger. But Gavin didn’t deviate for those emotions or those thugs. He had deviated for Nines.

But Gavin had other matters to worry about at the moment. It was time for him to deal with an emotion he was already familiar with, annoyance. Connor was right when he said Nines needed something to eat. But that honestly felt like the most hypocritical thing the detective had ever uttered.

Gavin turned to look fully at Connor, “Is Nines aware that you’re Anorexic?” He asked out of the blue because he could do whatever the hell he wanted, and he didn’t see the need to be polite with someone like Connor.

Connor choked on his spit as he stared back at the android, _“How did…?”_ Connor gaped and swallowed quickly to regain his composure, “What does it matter?”

“I knew because I have both worked with you and I am fully equipped with advanced medical scanners,” Gavin rolled his eyes, “and that’s not even mentioning the fact that you have a registered diagnosis.”

Connor looked away, a flush high on his cheeks, “Yeah, he knows. He’s known for a long time,” Connor pointedly looked away from Gavin’s gaze, “He knows about all of my bad habits.”

“Interesting,” Gavin mused more to himself than anything. He looked around the apartment for a moment, debating about what he wanted to do while Nines was finishing up his shower. Then his eyes fell back onto Connor and he noticed that he hadn’t moved. Gavin turned sharply to the detective, “Are you going to stand here all day or are you going to get something for you two to eat?”

Connor sputtered, “Yeah, I will,” he frowned, “You’ve got a mouth on you and I don’t know how I feel about it.”

“I don’t care how you feel about anything. I just want to take care of Nines, and I don’t have the capability to get food or to cook,” Gavin bit out.

“That’s fair,” Connor sighed, “How the fuck did this end up happening?”

“It’s a long story, and we don’t have time for it right now,” Gavin drew out and then he pointed towards the door, _“Go get food.”_

“Fine, _shit,”_ Connor barked as he pulled out his phone. Then he gave that phcking dismissive wave and started to walk towards the exit. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. It rang three times before the person on the other end picked up.

Gavin turned up his auditory sensitivity, fully intent on eavesdropping on the conversation.

_“Are you okay?_ It’s like almost midnight, _”_ Was the hasty reply from the other end. Gavin was quickly able to identify the voice as Conrad’s. But it was surprising how similar the twins’ voices were.

“It’s closer to eleven,” Connor chuckled, “but I’m fine. I need you to come over to Nines’ place. _It’s important.”_

There was a silence on the other end, “What? _Right now?”_

“Yeah. If you can do that,” Connor switched the phone to the other ear, _“Please?”_

Conrad sighed, but the sound was fond, “There’s no question. I’ll be there in twenty.” There was a rustling noise as Conrad was shifting where ever he was, “I knew something was up, I’ve been stressed out all day for no damn reason.”

Connor laughed nervously, “Sorry about that. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you soon,” Then the line went dead.

Connor pocketed the phone and went to open the door.

Gavin stopped him by sliding into his path, “Why did you tell Conrad to come over?”

Connor had the decency to look embarrassed, “Ah, _um._ I think all three of us should get this out into the open as soon as possible. We’re not big on secrets.”

“But Conrad has already met me,” Gavin said crossing his arms. This was not an ideal situation. Stress should be avoided at all cost, and if Conrad was anything like Connor there was going to be conflict.

“Well, he needs to know that you’re an android,” Connor frowned also crossing his arms.

Gavin found that he hated that Connor was taller than him and given that Connor was shorter than Nines it managed to piss Gavin off more. Emotions were such strange things, “Whatever,” Gavin growled out, “Just go get the phcking food.” Gavin stepped away from the door and gestured for Connor to leave.

Connor shook his head and grumbled under his breath, “What has my life come to? Being bossed around by a goddamned android of all things. What fucking dystopian future is this?”

Gavin knew he wasn’t meant to hear that, but he hadn’t turned down his auditory sensitivity. But he chose to ignore the detective.

Gavin instead turned away from the door and looked around the living room. He noticed the duffel bag of biocomponents and random tools. He decided to walk up to the bag and to quickly began to gather up the scattered tools. He then picked up a bag of thirium and drank it. Considering the second mug of sweet thirium was abandoned in the bathroom.

“I wonder where Nines got all this?” Gavin mused to himself as he scanned the contents. His eyes widened, “These are all parts that are compatible with my model.” He felt heat rise to his cheeks. Nines was such a sweet man. _How had he ever gotten so lucky?_

Gavin picked up the duffel bag. He went and put it down just inside Nines’ bedroom. Where a very distraught Lilith was pacing. She started meowing as soon as she had seen him.

“Hey, Lilith? Want to come to sit with me on the couch?” Gavin asked in a soft voice as he beckoned her with his hands.

She meowed again and hopped off the bed and began to follow him.

Gavin smiled down at her as he started his retreat to back to the living room. He paused briefly by the bathroom door to make sure Nines was okay. The water was still running and there was only the faint noise of Nines moving around. Gavin nodded satisfied that his human hadn’t managed to kill himself yet. Then he was walking again.

As soon as he sat down on the couch Lilith jumped onto his lap. But she kept meowing until Gavin started petting her that was, then she started purring loudly.

Gavin kept petting the cat even as the internal timer he had set for Conrad’s arrival ticked down. He was not ready for all these new emotions. Adjusting to all the internal stimuli was difficult and he wasn’t sure how long it was going to take for him to get used to everything. _Hell,_ he may never know how emotions worked, because from what he has seen humans still struggle with them. But right now, at the very least he knew he was happy petting Lilith.

A few minutes later, Gavin heard the lock on the door click right before Connor stepped in with two bags containing several things of Chinese takeout.

Gavin felt his lips rise at the nutritional content in the food. Disgusting and greasy, the perfect mix for it to be considered comfort food.

“Nines still in the shower?” Connor asked as he shut the door behind him.

“Yeah,” Gavin shrugged, “He’ hasn’t fallen or anything stupid, so I’m just letting him be.”

“How would you know if he’s fallen down or not?” Connor raised an eyebrow as he sat the food down on the table. Then he walked over and collapsed on the opposite side of the couch.

Gavin pointed at his left ear, “I have very good hearing.”

Connor nodded, “Ah, okay. Fair enough.” The coin made an appearance again. Then no words were spoken for a few minutes.

“It amazes me how close all three of you guys are,” Gavin mused aloud in the silence. There wasn’t much time until Gavin predicted that Conrad would arrive.

“Yeah, life kind of made it to where we had to be,” the look in Connor’s eyes was distant.

Gavin decided not to press, he figured Connor’s experiences were similar to Nines’.

Gavin let out a sigh, “I really expected you to stay freaked out longer than you did.”

Connor let out a dry laugh, “Me too. But if you make Nines happy, then I guess I’m fine with it. I mean he straight up tackled me while bleeding out to protect you. So, I’m not stupid enough to cross him over that,” Then Connor met Gavin’s eyes and all the warmness disappeared. It was a look Gavin had never seen on him before, “But I swear if you hurt him. He won’t be able to stop me next time I go to shoot you.”

Gavin stared at the detective and he became fully aware that he was not bluffing, “You won’t have to worry about that.”

_“Good,”_ Connor stared for a moment longer before he broke eye contact and his eyes softened again. It was almost as if he couldn’t stand the act of being cruel.

Gavin opened his mouth to ask another question, but he heard the telltale sound of the door being unlocked again. Conrad was exactly 47 seconds ahead of schedule as he walked through the threshold.

“Hey, Connor,” Conrad greeted as he took off his shoes and shut the door, “What’s so important that I had to come over in the middle of the night? And where’s Ni-,” Conrad’s words died on his tongue as he looked up and made eye contact with the spinning yellow LED on Gavin’s temple. _“Oh.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, finally, all three of the Anderson boys are in one place!   
> What could possibly go wrong?


	23. Be Somebody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all know how siblings are, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit my dudes. There is only one more chapter after this and then an epilogue and then that's the end... Wow.  
> Thanks once again for being such a wonderful audience. Im still overwhelmed by the support I've gotten for this fic and from this fandom as a whole. You guys are amazing and I get so damn happy every time I get a comment or a kudos. <3 
> 
> Title song: [Be Somebody - Thousand Foot Krutch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L3R0o3PEyQ)

Nines absolutely hated being injured. It was inconvenient, tedious, and downright infuriating. He frowned heavily as he taped a fucking plastic bag over his bandage. Then he roughly turned on the shower and waited impatiently for the water to heat up before he climbed in.

Then Nines let out a harsh breath through his nose, finally able to calm down with the hot water cascading down his body. He really did understand why some of his patients were unruly. He couldn’t blame them regardless of how annoying they could be. Because he’d never been much of a good patient himself. _Maybe that was one of the reasons he was so good at his job?_

Nines could potentially relate to almost everyone that came through the ER. Directly or indirectly. _Losing a parent or parents?_ Nines had lost both of his in different ways. _Suicide?_ He’d been on both ends of that experience, too. _Loss of mobility or becoming disabled?_ His arm and neck affected his life enough that he could share some input into readjusting to life after a severe injury. _Abuse?_ Yeah, he knew that one intimately.

_What a life he has led in his 26 years of life._ Nines sighed. He knew he needed to stop thinking about his past. It was never a good thing for him to get lost in. With a deep breath, he forced himself back into the present. Then and only then did the reality of the day finally settle in his stomach. _He very nearly died today._

Nines had known that if the bullet had hit a little to the right it could have found some of his vital organs. What a pathetic way that would have been to go out. Bleeding out leaning up against his car, next to a dumpster after having been shot by some Anti-Android thug. His boyfriend dead in the back seat. Only to be found and unceremoniously thrown right back into the garbage to stay dead forever. Both of them would have died in vain trying their damnedest to save the other.

_How ironic._ Nines thought as he let out a bitter laugh. One that sounded a little hysterical even to his own ears. He loved Gavin with every fiber in his being. _When had his simple crush flourished into something this magical and all-consuming?_

Nines had no idea, but he wouldn’t change a thing. Though he knew from the moment he smacked that ball cap onto Gavin’s head to hide his LED he was entering into something that wasn’t going to be easy. But getting killed seemed just a little excessive.

Nines shook his head and then started to scrub shampoo into his scalp. Maybe his expectations were a little too high. Not long ago, people were still getting hurt and killed for loving other _humans. Hell,_ in some places they’re still doing that. But it looked like the world was falling into its old patterns and androids were just the next minority on the list.

Nines just wanted the world to be simple. He’d already fought _so fucking hard_ to get to where he was. _When will he just be able to be happy? When could he have something as simple as his lover’s arms to fall into?_

Nines guessed he’d always be fighting, it was just the nature of his existence.

Nines sighed as he tried once again to force his brain to shut off. He didn’t want to think anymore. He just wanted to relax in the shower. He was going to try to scrub away the sorrow and regret along with the blood and grime.

After about twenty minutes, Nines reluctantly turned the water off and stepped gingerly out of the shower. He dried off slowly and then peeled off the plastic bag covering with a hiss. He was starting to feel the deep, painful ache in his side. The alcohol and adrenaline have long since worn off leaving him exhausted and aching deeply. He was only able to pull one piece of clothing at a time before he had to stop to take a breather. After he was fully dressed and dizzy from the pain, which took a solid ten minutes, he finally caved and decided to swallow down one of the oxycodones. He really hoped he didn’t get drug tested in the next few days.

Nines looked at himself in the mirror with a frown. He still looked like shit. Dark patches were forming under his eyes and his skin was paler than normal. Which looked almost inhuman, because he was already far too pale, to begin with.

Today had been too much for him. He just wanted to eat whatever greasy, garbage take-out Connor had gone out to get. Then pass the hell out, preferably with his android boyfriend wrapped up in his arms.

Nines stared at his refection for another moment. Then he steeled his nerves and decided he had left Gavin and Connor unsupervised for long enough.

Nines opened the door and a rush of cold air gave him a soft peppering of goosebumps. Then he noticed the house smelled like greasy Chinese food and it was drawing him towards the living room. He heard talking as he got closer. _Well, at least they hadn’t killed each other._

Then Nines turned the corner and was faced with quite the predicament. He gaped in surprise as he took in the chaos. Connor was standing next to the TV and had his arms crossed, defensively curling in on himself. Then right in the center of the room was Conrad holding Gavin in a tight grip by his jaw.

Nines shook his head in disbelief, _“What the fuck?”_

Gavin looked between pissed and mortified. His face was dusted in a blue blush, but his eyes were narrowed dangerously. His LED a constant, harsh red.

Conrad looked flat, not much expression was on his face as he turned to look towards Nines, “Nines. This is a surprise.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Nines took an intimidating step forward. Though the effect was nulled by his slight limp, _“Let him go this instant!”_

Conrad frowned a bit, but then unceremoniously released his grip on Gavin, _“Fine, b_ ut I don’t trust it.”

Gavin stumbled back a step, spitting out, _“Phck you!”_

Conrad didn’t seem to notice the pissed off android as he turned his body to fully face his younger brother, “You know. When I met Gavin in the park me and Heather were fully convinced, he had to be your ex’s brother or something like that,” Conrad shrugged as he shook his head, he looked like he was disappointed in Nines.

Nines stiffened, and frowned bitterly at his brother, _“What does that have to do with anything?”_

Conrad threw his thumb towards Gavin, “My point is I know you take relationships very seriously, so this comes as a big surprise to me. I just can’t believe you went out and custom ordered a Traci model to look like him. I mean _come on,_ Nines. They even have the same nose.”

Nines felt rage fill him all the way to his fingertips. He couldn’t believe that Conrad would think him that low. Nines took the three steps it took to close the distance between him and his brother. He stared down his nose and narrowed his eyes. Then he reared his hand back and the crack that echoed through the small room sounded like a gunshot.

Conrad’s eyes were impossibly wide as he slowly turned his head back to look at his enraged younger brother. He slowly raised his hand to the cheek that Nines had just slapped, but he was smart enough not to say anything more.

They stared at each other for a few moments. Challenge in their eyes, as tensions rose between the two. Nines was just about to tear him a new one as he opened his mouth to pour out every single ounce of his frustration.

Then Connor pushed himself between the two of them, _“Okay! That is **quite** enough!”_

Nines ground his teeth. There was no way he was taking this laying down, Connor be damned. Nines roughly pushed Connor aside and stepped into Conrad’s personal space, _“You’re a fucking asshole,”_ He hissed barely above a whisper, “That was an incredibly low blow and I have negative patience for this sort of conversation at the moment. So, get the fuck out of my house before I really lose my temper and do something else I’ll regret,” Nines pointed towards the door and pulled back from his brothers. He felt angry tears threaten to fall at any moment.

Conrad flinched, and he turned to look towards Connor as if he was waiting for something.

Connor just looked meek.

No one moved.

Nines couldn’t believe that Conrad still hadn’t left. He glanced to Gavin who was standing stock still his LED still flashing a violent red. Nines opened his mouth to continue his verbal assault, but then his vision spotted black and his head felt fuzzy. He was vaguely aware of the fact that his knees had buckled, but he never hit the ground.

_“Nines!”_ Gavin yelped as his arms hooked under Nines’ armpits supporting him, _“Hey._ You need to calm down. Your blood pressure is far too low for this kind of exertion. You have to sit down or you’re going to pass the phck out.”

Nines grumbled not quite forming words as Gavin unceremoniously sat him down in one of the dining table chairs. His side was on fire and he clutched at it, as he looked up angrily over the rim of his glasses.

Connor and Conrad were both frozen in place as Nines glared at them.

Connor looked ashamed and Conrad looked confused.

Nines looked back down at his lap as his head continued to swim. He couldn’t hold back the emotions anymore and all at once the tears started rolling down his cheeks. He already knew things had been too much today and right now he couldn’t have stopped the tears even if he wanted to. Not to mention the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet and he was in agony. It was the second time he cried that day and that was more tears than he had shed than in the last year.

Gavin didn’t miss a beat and was squatting down in front of Nines in an instant, _“Hey, hey._ Let’s not be doing that,” He cooed awkwardly as he started wiping away the tears.

Conrad and Connor were at Nines’ side by this point and he didn’t really want them this close. He hated crying and he hated feeling this goddamned weak.

Gavin picked up on Nines’ discomfort and reacted quickly. He stood up and took Conrad with him. Grabbing him by the collar and pulling him a few steps away. It was a funny sight, considering the angle Conrad was bent at from being drug around by a man so much shorter than himself.

“He doesn’t need anything from you except for an apology,” Gavin said as he shoved Conrad lightly, but enough to make him stagger a step backward.

Nines frowned at the display, “Hey, quit that,” He barked out weakly.

Gavin turned away again and walked back over to the table and pulled out the chair next to Nines and sat down messily.

Conrad frowned and put his hand palm up in front of him in silent surrender, “What the hell is going on, Richard?”

Nines attempted to roll his eyes, but the tears made it awkward, _“Oh,_ cut the Richard bullshit.” Nines was going to explain himself, but Connor put a hand on his shoulder and stood up. Nines nodded letting Connor take the reins.

Connor crossed his arms again, “Sixty if you had let me explain things earlier none of this would have happened. I didn’t invite you over here to be a douche bag. I invited you over here so you could meet Gavin.”

Conrad crossed his own arms, matching his twin, “I’ve already met Gavin.”

“Oh, fuck you and your technicalities,” Connor groaned, “I meant the real Gavin. Who, by the way, is not a Traci model. He’s from the specialized GV series that functions as an EMT with a police destination. Him looking like he-who-shall-not-be-named is solely an unfortunate coincidence.”

Gavin spoke up for the first time, “I have no idea who you guys are talking about, but I feel like I should be insulted.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that this android just up and decided to leave his assigned task to be with Nines?” Conrad asked, ignoring Gavin’s commentary.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Gavin said with a stretch as he stood up and walked up to Conrad, “I’m not a normal android. _I’m a deviant._ I can do what I want.”

Conrad’s eyes widened impossibly, _“A deviant?_ Those aren’t supposed to be an actual thing!”

“What do you know about deviants?” Nines spoke up again. Alarm bells were going off in his head if Conrad had heard about Deviants it meant that the FBI had wind of them too.

_“Not much!_ They aren’t supposed to be a real thing. I fully believed that it was just a rumor about the androids going rogue. I clearly didn’t believe it until now!” Conrad bit at his nails, _“Oh, shit._ Wait till Perkins hears about this.”

Nines’ eyes widened, and he stood up quickly causing his vision to swim again, “You better not say a word about this to that asshole. _He’ll get Gavin killed!”_

_“Nines,_ you can’t possibly trust a malfunctioning piece of plastic,” Conrad said softly as he gave a sideways glance to Gavin, _“do you?”_

“I absolutely do. I’m more sure of that than I have been of anything in a long time,” Nines took a deep breath, _“I love him.”_

_Silence._

Gavin’s LED was rapidly flashing between all three colors as he locked eyes with Nines. His face was a bright blue all the way to his ears.

Nines offered him a soft, reassuring smile.

Connor flapped a few times, _“Holy shit,”_ He squealed, “I called this like a month ago!”

Conrad didn’t move, _“Nines,”_ He drug out slowly, his tone chastising.

_“Nope,_ I’m going to stop your villain monologue right there,” Nines said as he stuck his finger out towards the taller twin, “You trust me, _correct?”_

Conrad deflated, as he dragged a hand down his face, “More than anyone.”

“Then you can trust me on this one. Deviants are not a danger to me or anyone else. Especially not Gavin,” Nines said, then smiled at his boyfriend, “He literally got himself shutdown trying to protect me.”

Conrad let out a long-suffering groan, _“Fine._ I won’t say anything. But this is for you, not the ‘droid.”

Nines rolled his eyes, “Give it time.”

There were few moments of strained silence as the brothers just stared at each other.

Nines wasn’t really sure how to proceed after such an emotional conversation. But he had a good feeling they were all finally on the same page.

Then out of nowhere, Connor clapped his hands together, “Well, now that that’s out of the way. Nines, you really need to eat. I bought your favorites from that place down the road,” Connor looked at his twin, “I got you something, too.”

“Thanks,” Nines said as he plopped back down in the chair. Happy to be done with the weird staring contest they had gotten into. Nines noticed that the ache in his side was waning. The pain killers had finally fucking started to kick in.

Connor passed out the food as Conrad sat down awkwardly.

Gavin ignored the table altogether as he decided to go find Lilith and sit down on the couch with her. His LED was still a sharp yellow.

Nines looked down at the food Connor had brought and sighed before he quickly tucked into it. He got a few bites in before some conversation started up again.

“Well, I do have one more question,” Conrad piped up, “Why are you limping and all wobbly?”

Nines swallowed his food quickly, _“Oh,_ I got shot today.”

Conrad choked on whatever he was eating and started coughing. When he recovered his eyes stayed wild, **_“What?”_**

Nines chuckled a little bit, “Some thugs broke Gavin earlier today and waited up for me when I went to go get him. They decided they weren’t going down without a fight and I wasn’t either. He got a bullet in the thigh. I got one in the side.”

_“Holy shit,”_ Conrad shook his head again, “What the fuck else have you done with this android?”

Connor piped up before Nines could answer himself, “I don’t think you want the answer to that question,” He snickered.

Conrad and Nines both looked at Connor in matching horror.

_“Connor!”_ Nines squawked, “You can’t just say shit like that!”

Connor’s smile turned wicked, “I can, and I will. The amount of shit you two give me about my love life means I am frankly entitled to return the favor.”

Conrad looked at Connor with his puppy eyes, “But, Con. _You’re a slut._ There’s a difference.”

Nines chuckled behind his hand. Happy that the attention was off of him for the moment.

Connor put a hand to his chest, “Listen, Sixty. I will not stand for this.”

Conrad continued to look at his twin with doe eyes, “No, you never stand. You’re always on your back.”

“I give up,” Connor gasped, “ _Like what the fuck?”_

Conrad and Nines laughed as Connor continued to glare at them. Then Connor shoved a bite of food into his mouth in annoyance.

Nines was worried about Gavin being left out, but when he glanced behind him, he noticed that the android had slipped into stasis. His head was leaned all the way back resting on the back of the coach and his mouth hanging open stupidly. Lilith was dozing in his lap. It was frankly adorable.

Nines looked back at his brothers and the conversation continued on more light-hearted notes. The brothers quickly ate the food that Connor had brought. _Well,_ Nines and Conrad had eaten _their_ share. Connor only pushed his around after taking a few bites.

Nines wanted to scold him but didn’t have the energy.

“Well, guys. It’s late and I really need to get some sleep and I’m sure you guys do too,” Nines said after he finished his last bite of his Lo Mein.

“You’re right. I hope Heather didn’t wake up to find me missing. I forgot to tell her I was leaving,” Conrad muttered as he stood up.

“Dumbass,” Connor rolled his eyes, “I hope she doesn’t think you’re having another episode.”

_“Eh,”_ Conrad said with a shrug, “She would have called by now if that was the case.”

“Fair enough,” Connor said as he picked up the food containers to toss them out.

“It’s a wonder that woman hasn’t murdered you yet,” Nines said as he walked towards the door with his brothers.

“Yeah. I know, right?” Conrad chuckled, “She’s a saint to be able to put up with me.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Connor mused as he put on his trench coat.

Conrad looked towards the passed-out Gavin and then back to Nines, “Listen, Nines. I don’t really understand what’s going on with any of this,” He gestured towards the sleeping android. His eyes looked lost as he scratched the back of his neck, “But all I’ve ever wanted for us was for us to be happy. If the android makes you happy, I’ll do anything and everything in my power to keep it like that.”

Nines gave Conrad a watery smile, “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” He pulled Conrad into a tight hug, ignoring the sharp pang in his side from the contact.

“No problem,” Conrad smiled as he pulled out of the embrace, “But we do eventually need to sit down and talk about all the deviant stuff. I have so many questions.”

“We can do that at a later date, I promise,” Nines figured it was only fair.

 “Well, with that I need to be on my way. Goodnight guys,” Conrad waved as he reached for the door.

_“Hey,_ let me walk out with you, _you brat,”_ Connor barked out to Conrad. Then he turned to Nines, “You get some sleep, _okay? Oh,_ and you owe Carol one hell of an explanation because I didn’t end up making up a story for you. So, good luck and all that. _Fuck,_ that woman is nuts.”

“Yeah, thanks. I’m sure I can come up with something,” Nines mused, “Thanks again. Good night, love you guys.”

His brothers echoed their love and goodbyes and then they were heading out of his apartment.

Nines let out a breath and his shoulders deflated. He was exhausted and as much as he loved his brothers, they were very draining to be around sometimes.

Nines awkwardly popped his neck and walked over to the couch and plopped down next to his android.

Gavin woke up from his stasis with a staticky snort. He looked at Nines and smiled dopily, “They leave already?”

“Yeah, _finally,”_ Nines yawned, “For a minute there I thought I was going to fall asleep right into my noodles.”

“That would have been gross,” Gavin chuckled, “Ready for bed, then?”

“Fuck, _yes,”_ Nines agreed quickly as he stood up slowly and then offered a hand to Gavin.

Gavin just stared at the offered hand.

Nines rolled his eyes, “Come on, you _Deviant._ No more nights at the precinct for you,” he gave a small, shy smile, “Lucky for you I have a queen-sized bed and you’re more than welcome to join me there instead of sleeping on the couch.”

Gavin’s face lit up with a bright blush as he took Nines’ hand, “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

Nines pulled Gavin up off the couch and directly into his arms. He wrapped him in a tight hug and kissed him. When he finally pulled away, he caressed Gavin’s face reverently, “I’m so damn happy you found your way into my life and I’m even happier that your willing to stay.”

Gavin sighed as he leaned into the touch, “Me too,” he pulled away and grabbed Nines’ hand, “Come on you really need to sleep if you want your body to start healing properly.”

“Of course, Gav,” Nines said as he followed Gavin into his bedroom.

Lilith began to settle in at the foot of the bed and looked up at the pair as she waited for them to join her.

Nines stretched lightly, “Go ahead and get settled in. I’m going to use the bathroom and then I’ll join you,” he didn’t wait for a response as he wandered towards the bathroom.

Nines took of the most pressing matters first. Then he stared at himself in the mirror again. A good bit of the color had returned, and he didn’t look like a ghost anymore. He counted how lucky he was once again as he decided to throw back another dose of painkillers.

Then Nines joined Gavin in his bed, crawling under the covers.

Gavin looked like he was choking on his nerves. Lying on top of the covers and as straight as a board.

Nines chuckled as he opened his arms, “Come here,” He invited his boyfriend under the covers and into his arms.

Gavin blushed but awkwardly shuffled over to Nines. Once he was settled in and properly wrapped up in Nines’ arms, he sighed out, “This is nice.”

Nines nuzzled closer to his lover and let out a soft yawn, “Yeah, it is.” Then he fell asleep, feeling safe and warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also the amazing [Puppet8](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/) has made some more fantastic fan art for this fic! Here is [Connor in his garbage clothes!](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/image/183157379714) and [My love, Carol!](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/image/183157468674) and finally [the reunion scene from chapter 20!](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/image/183157309629)


	24. Demon Days (Do It All Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The in-between part of their love story is ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dudes. This is it. This is the last chapter (minus the epilogue). I can't believe. 
> 
> Title Song: [Demon Days (Do It All Again) | Wild Wild Horses](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZoaUOdXdSo)

Nines woke up softly at first and noted that he was comfortably warm. Then as wakefulness overtook him, he went to stretch a little. He barely got his arms above his head before he had to abort the motion as a sharp pain starting in his side shot through his body.

_Why did it feel like he had just been punched?_ Nines couldn’t remember with his brain still being quite a bit muddled from sleep. He let out a sigh and just decided to go back to sleep. He wiggled a bit in an attempt to get comfortable again. Then he felt _something else_ move next to him. Whatever it was, it was too big to be Lilith. Not to mention that she wasn’t much of a cuddle bug anyway.

In Nines’ panic, he finally cracked his eyes open and noticed it was _a person_ in the bed next to him. All of his rational thought went out the window, and he jolted backward as fast as he could. Practically launching himself off the bed in an attempt to scramble away from the sleeping person.

The pain in his side exploded as he scooted away until he hit the nearest wall. He was gasping as he stared at the intruder in his bed. The intruder that was starting to shift around, waking up.

_“Nines?_ When did you get over there?” A very familiar male voice said. His tone was concerned, “You tore open your side and now it's bleeding _again.”_

The next moment a pair of misty green eyes met icy blue.

Remembrance slammed into Nines. _Gavin. **He was shot.**_ He cradled his head in his hands taking a few deep, calming breaths. Trying not to burst out into a fit of giggles or into tears.

Gavin climbed off the bed and sat down in front of Nines. He reached out slowly as if approaching an injured animal, “Hey, _Nines?_ Come on, you’re okay, I promise. What’s going on? You can tell me.”

Nines took a couple more deep breaths. Then he looked up and gave Gavin a timid smile, “I’m okay. I just, _uh,_ forgot about yesterday for a second.”

Gavin let out an airy laugh, “It happens. Come on, we need to clean that up,” Gavin pointed at Nines’ side, “And you still have to call Carol and tell her you’re not coming in today.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nines groaned, _“God,_ she’s going to be _pissed.”_

“There is a 73% chance of that being the case,” Gavin rambled as he pulled Nines up from the floor and into his arms. The hug was gentle yet firm, “This is my favorite part about being a deviant so far.”

Nines felt his face heat, “I think I like it too,” he mumbled into his lover’s shoulder.

They stayed like that until Nines fully relaxed. Then they were heading to the bathroom to get Nines’ bullet wound cleaned up _again._

Nines slowly took off his shirt and tossed it aside and let out a long-suffering sigh, “I really hate being in this kind of pain. I already have enough trouble dressing and undressing and _this_ is just downright frustrating.”

Gavin’s mouth pulled into a tight line, _“You know,_ it might be easier if you didn’t always wear long sleeved turtlenecks and other stuffy shit like that.”

Nines rolled his eyes, “I like my stuffy style regardless of how inconvenient it is.” He also gave a silent gesture to the nasty looking scar above his left collar bone.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it, dipshit,” Gavin muttered, his tone playful. He pulled out the first aid kit again and started to get the supplies ready, “Brace yourself.”

That was all the warning Nines got before Gavin ripped off the gauze and medical tape. Nines let out a hiss, _“Thanks for the warning.”_

“You’re welcome,” Gavin responded flatly as his eyes went weird as he started to scan Nines. A moment later his eyes went back to normal, “Well, I’ve got some good news. So far there is no sign of infection and the healing process has started at a decent rate.”

“That _is_ pleasant news. An infection in this area could quickly spread to other areas of the body and cause a laundry list of complications to the recovery process,” Nines mused as he attempted to look at the round, red incision in his side.

_“Geesh,_ I hope you don’t talk to your patients like that,” Gavin scolded as he started to clean the wound.

_“Of course not._ I have a fantastic bedside manner, thank you very much,” Nines said through gritted teeth. His side was burning with the antiseptic Gavin was currently using.

“I know,” Gavin’s cheeky tone was back, “It’s everywhere else where you lack manners.”

Nines scoffed, _“Oh, wow._ I feel _so_ loved.”

Gavin paused to lock eyes with him, _“You should.”_

Nines’ breath caught in his throat and his face heated up a bit, “Yeah, I should.”

They didn’t talk anymore as Gavin finished up. He took his time and scanned Nines several times as he cleaned and prepped the area. And a few minutes later the wound was once again covered in gauze and tape.

Nines clumsily pulled a clean shirt on. He sighed in relief when he finally had the shirt on all the way and turned to smiled cheekily at Gavin. Then he placed a soft peck on the android’s lips, “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Gavin said. Then he frowned, “No, never mind. Don’t get shot again. I absolutely will _not_ do this again.”

“That’s okay. I don’t plan on getting shot again,” Nines gave his one-armed shrug, “But these things are rarely planned.”

“That’s true,” Gavin nodded, “Now call Carol. Your shift is supposed to start in exactly one hour and thirty-seven minutes.”

“Okay,” Nines said as he walked back towards his bedroom and found his phone.

_8 Missed Calls. 5 New messages._

Nines frowned as he unlocked the screen. He noticed most of the messages and calls were from Connor before he had barged in last night. Then there were two from Carol and one from Lucky. He decided to call Carol first. He could complain at Lucky in a minute.

The phone rang three times before Carol picked up, _“Richard! **Holy shit!**_ I thought you had fucking up and died on me!”

“No, no. I’m okay. I, _uh,_ had to bail my boyfriend out,” Nines’ mouth fumbled out the lie he had started to conceive yesterday.

**_“Bailout?_** _You left work to bail your boyfriend out of jail!”_ Carol’s tone was bordering on hysteric, _“I didn’t even know you actually had a boyfriend!”_

Nines cringed a bit at her volume, “Carol, _please._ It wasn’t a typical bond it was an Immigration Bond.”

There was a silence over the line, _“What?”_ Carol finally gaped, “I thought you said he worked for the hospital in one way or another?”

“I may have, _uh,_ lied,” Nines frowned a bit, “It was an important call and this whole mess is stressful.”

“Nines. You could just have told me the truth. I would have understood, _I do understand,”_ Carol paused, “Do you really think I would have said something about this to someone?”

Nines balked, “Of course not, but it’s something I’m not going to talk about freely considering how close we are to the border.”

Carol sighed, “Fine. I get it,” There was another pause as she shouted something into the background, “Why couldn’t this conversation have waited until you were here?”

“Well, about that,” Nines said quickly, “I can’t make it in today.”

Carol took an audibly loud breath, and then whispered, _“What the fuck, Richard?”_

“We have a hearing today and I’m not letting him go alone,” Nines said, his tone firm.

“You want to be in my debt forever, _don’t you?”_ Carol said, her tone was tired but fond nonetheless, _“Fine._ But you are taking my next two 24-hour shifts. I deserve a day off for putting up with this shit.”

“Okay, fine,” Nines groaned, “It’s a deal.”

“Okay,” Carol shuffled the phone again to yell something out, “Hey, good luck at the hearing then. I got to go, bye-bye.”

“Bye, Carol,” Nines said before the line went dead. He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for a few moments. This was getting a little out of hand, but he could handle it. Fuck, he’d already been shot for Pete’s sake. It couldn’t get any worse than that.

“How did it go?” Gavin said as he walked through the threshold. He was carrying a steaming mug of coffee.

Nines beamed, “It went okay. I got out of work today, and we have an immigration hearing today,” He explained as he walked over to Gavin and took the offered mug.

_“Immigration?”_ Gavin said, his LED flashed yellow looking thoughtful. Then his face lit up, _“You phcking **genius!”**_

“Don’t flatter me. It’s just an elaborate lie. One that may actually end up working in our favor at some point.”

“Yeah, but that might _actually_ work!” Gavin said as he started to pace a little. LED spinning a rapid yellow. He was probably doing some research.

“Yeah, I know. But we are actually going to meet someone else today,” Nines said over the rim of the mug.

“Oh, Who?” Gavin inquired as he stopped pacing briefly.

“A couple of deviant androids named Lucky and Wendy,” Nines said as he gestured with his phone, “I just need to give them a call and then we’ll be going out for a cup of coffee and sweet thirium.”

“Okay. That’s fine by me.”

Nines grinned at his boyfriend. Then he put the coffee mug down as he dialed Lucky’s number.

It rang once before Lucky’s telltale cocky voice came over the line, “It’s about time you called me back.”

Nines felt his mouth fall open, “Listen, Lucky. Gavin got fucking broken and I got shot. I had more important matters to attend to. Like not bleeding out like a stuck pig.”

There was a pause on the other end, “Well, _fuck._ You guys okay?”

Nines sighed, “Yeah, I got Gavin fixed up and I’m not dead. So, it all worked out. But Gavin is now officially a Deviant and I think you could explain that concept to him a lot better than I ever could.”

“Of fucking course, I can. Come on over,” Lucky said with a bright laugh, “I’ll have the shop ready for initiation. You guys can come in through the back this time.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon then. Goodbye,” Nines said quickly.

“Okay, Bye,” Lucky said, and Nines could hear her start to say something to Wendy before the line went dead.

_“Initiation?”_ Gavin muttered, sounding concerned.

Nines chuckled, “Nah, nothing like that I’m pretty sure. She’s just a little crazy. I think you’ll like her.”

“Whatever you say,” Gavin said. His LED was mainly blue, but a small part of it was spinning red.

_“Hey,”_ Nines said softly, it was his turn to provide the comfort. He placed a soft kiss on Gavin’s LED, “It’s going to be okay.”

Gavin’s face turned a little bit blue as he smiled softly. He met Nines’ eyes, “Yeah, everything is going to okay as long as I have you.”

Nines swallowed around a surge of emotions. He felt his ears and cheeks heat, “You are absolutely correct,” He gave his android lover a deep kiss as if they were sealing a deal.

Gavin chuckled softly, “Where’s my hat? We have places to be.”

“Hanging up in the closet,” Nines pointed, “I’ll go take care of Lilith then we can hit the road.”

Gavin nodded and wandered towards the closet.

Nines picked the mug of coffee back up and walked towards the kitchen. He noted that he still had a limp, but that wasn’t terribly surprising. He knew he was healing well, but these things take time. He decided to chug the rest of the drink and set the mug down into the sink. He then refreshed Lilith’s water and food bowls.

About that time Gavin reappeared dressed in his own clothes this time. The black baseball cap secured tightly on his head, “I’m ready to go. Are you?”

Nines nodded, “Let’s get going.”

Then they were heading out of the apartment. Thankfully, they didn’t run into anyone on the elevator or in the lobby. Even though he did get one strange look from a lady coming into the building. Nines was frankly amazed by his luck.

When they arrived at Nines’ car. He frowned unhappily at the bullet hole in his driver’s side window, “I forgot to ask Conrad if he could take this in to get fixed sometime.”

“Eh, you can just ask him later. Or I can punch in the window the rest of the way and say that someone broke into your car and have your insurance pay for it.”

Nines frowned and looked at Gavin with wide eyes, “That would be insurance fraud.”

Gavin gave Nines a dead-eyed stare, “That would be the mildest of all the crimes you have committed.”

Nines rolled his eyes as he finally unlocked the car and climbed in, “You may have a point, but I refuse to acknowledge it.”

Gavin laughed as he climbed into the passenger side, “Sure, whatever.”

Nines turned on the car and rolled his window down to hide the bullet hole, and thankfully the window didn’t break any further.

Gavin hummed as he turned the radio on. The rock station he had found from their date was now blasting in the car at a low roar. They sat in the relative silence for a few moments until Gavin turned the radio down again. Then he spoke up, “So, you never really gave me any details from the Erick and Hannah thing. I’m taking a wild guess that Lucky and Wendy are the ones who taught you to fix androids?”

Nines hummed, “That is correct. Lucky, namely. Wendy mainly runs the coffee shop. Lucky actually helped me repair Erick over at Windy Blues. She would have probably helped me repair you if she had answered her damn phone.”

Gavin frowned, “Are you saying I am the first android you repaired on your own?”

Nines shifted a bit, “Yes. I ran an external diagnostic on you and the damage wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. All that was wrong with you was that your thirium pump was fried, your nose was busted, and of course blood loss.”

Gavin reached up and touched the new scar on the bridge of his nose, “Well, I’m glad I’m not dead.”

“Me too,” Nines mused.

They arrived at Windy Blues around five minutes later. Nines pulled the car down the alley on the side of the coffee shop.

“This does not look like a place where rogue androids are repaired and hiding at,” Gavin observed.

“Gav, I hope you are aware that that is exactly the point,” Nines said as he started guiding his own rogue android to the back door.

“Yeah. I am, dipshit,” Gavin bit out playfully.

Nines rolled his eyes and knocked on the door.

Lucky opened the door and smiled wide as she noticed her visitors. She gave Gavin a quick once over before she stepped aside, gesturing for them to come on in, “Took you boys long enough. But it’s nice to see you, Nines.”

“Nice to see you too, Lucky,” Nines said as he pulled the door closed behind him.

Lucky nodded once and turned fully towards Gavin, “You must be Gavin. It’s nice to meet you.”

Gavin smiled awkwardly at the woman, “It’s nice to meet you, too, I guess.”

Lucky grinned and clapped her hands together, _“Fantastic!_ Come on let’s get you checked out. Because I trust Nines’ work, but I am going to check your systems and stuff myself anyway.” Lucky pointed at her work table and gestured for Gavin to take a seat there.

Gavin frowned a little bit and his LED flashed yellow a few times. Then he hopped up onto the table and looked at Lucky expectantly, “Okay, let’s get on with it.”

Lucky frowned a bit herself, before she continued, “Can you please take off your hat and deactivate the skin on your face and show me the chassis.”

Gavin’s LED flashed red, _“Uh, isn’t that a little bit of a personal question?!”_ He squawked.

“Normally, yes. But I need to know what is causing the scar to appear on the bridge of your nose,” Lucky replied calmly.

_“Ugh,_ fine,” Gavin muttered as he reached up and pulled off his hat. His LED still an uncomfortable yellow and red mix. Then his synthetic skin faded away. Gavin was refusing to meet the eyes of anyone in the room.

Nines was mesmerized. He’d never seen the entirety of Gavin’s face underneath of his synthetic skin. He's gotten a few glances of it. Both instances amazingly happened yesterday.

One of them was one of the most wonderful moments they had shared together. Nines’ right hand was gripping Gavin’s face in the passion of the moment. Gavin’s skin had peeled away around where Nines was holding him and his lips too. His blue blush was all the way down to the white plastic. It was the most beautiful sight Nines had ever seen.

The other time was something Nines would rather not think about. When Gavin was lifeless, and the skin was deactivated around where he was injured.

Now, he was looking at a completely skinless Gavin who was blushing for all the wrong reasons.

Lucky lightly grabbed Gavin’s chin as she made him turn, making it to where she could look at Nines’ handy work, “Yeah, a scar was virtually unavoidable with this kind of damage. So, overall good work with him Nines.”

Nines just nodded, unsure of how to respond verbally.

Lucky dropped her hand to her side, “Gavin, would you mind if we did an interface so I can check out your systems and give you an update on deviancy?”

Gavin quickly pulled the skin back over his face, “Sure, seems like the easier option.”

Lucky nodded once and held her hand in front of herself and pulled the skin back up to the middle of her forearm.

Gavin slowly mimicked the gesture. Then they locked hands. There was a brief moment as their eyes slipped closed and Nines could tell they started a successful interface when Gavin jerked a little bit. They stayed locked in an interface for a solid minute before they separated.

Gavin gasped, and the skin slammed back into place. His eyes flew opened and he stared at Lucky in shock, “That’s… That is _a lot_ to process.”

Lucky shrugged and looked barely affected by the interface in comparison to Gavin, “That’s true, but every day gets easier. Hey, and one day we may not have to make these hard decisions.”

Gavin’s LED was flashing red and yellow, and Gavin reached up and touched it lightly, “Well, I’ve always felt like I didn’t fit in anywhere.”

Lucky gave a small sympathetic smile, “Yeah, I felt that way, too. It was part of the reason I, myself, deviated.”

Gavin shook his head, “But I know where I belong,” Gavin’s LED was now flashing a yellow and blue as he locked eyes with Nines, “I would like to stay with you. If you’re cool with that.”

Nines’ mouth fell open. He had no idea what information Lucky and Gavin had shared, but he had the answer to Gavin’s question, “I was hoping you’d stay.”

Gavin let out a sigh, “Thank rA9.”

Nines felt his eyebrows knit together. He’d never heard that expression before. But Gavin was relieved, and Nines couldn’t find it in him to really care about Gavin’s choice of words at that moment, “So, what’s the plan going forward?”

Gavin put his hand up to his LED and frowned lightly, “This has to go. Can you help me with that?” He asked Lucky.

Lucky nodded, “Of course. LEDs are pretty easy to remove although a bit uncomfortable.” She turned around and walked to her work station and grabbed a piece of metal that looked like a scalpel, “This should do the trick. Do you want me to do it, or do you want to do it yourself?”

Gavin looked thoughtful for a moment before he put his hand out in front of himself, “I’ll do it.”

Lucky nodded once before she handed the scalpel over, “Don’t worry if it bleeds a little, that’s normal.”

“Okay,” Gavin said quickly. He took the scalpel and put it under his LED, which was flashing red, and then gave a quick jerk. The LED popped off and fell to the ground unceremoniously. A few drops of thirium beaded at the surface of Gavin’s skin, but he wiped them away. Then his skin covered up the white chassis. That was that and now Gavin looked completely human.

“Perfect,” Lucky cooed, as she reached down to pick up the LED. She took the scalpel and traded it for the LED, “Keep it.”

Gavin touched his temple, “Thank you,” He looked the deactivated LED with a forlorn expression, and he looked up at Nines again, “I guess this is a new beginning for me and by extension you.”

Nines smiled, “Yeah, I guess it is too. I’m glad we’re done with the in-between part.”

Gavin smiled, and it regressed into giggles. He jumped off the table and walked over to Nines. Gavin then wrapped him up in a hug.

The next thing Nines knew he was being lifted above the ground. Then Gavin was spinning around in circles and swinging his much larger boyfriend around with him.

Nines burst out in surprised laughter as he grappled at the collar of Gavin’s jacket as he was spun around, _“Gavin!”_ He gasped as he felt a tick in his side. Now he was trying desperately to get a warning out between his giggles, _“Gav-, **Gavin!** Quit it. You’re going to tear my side open!”_

Gavin immediately stopped and set Nines back down onto the ground, the motion made a bit awkward by the height difference, _“Sorry, sorry!_ I got a tad carried away,” Gavin apologized quickly.

Nines was gripping his side, gasping out, all the while still laughing airily, “It’s fine. I was just surprised.”

Gavin chuckled a bit, “Fair enough.”

When their giggles finally settled. Lucky decided to speak up, “You guys are free to go and all that. Go enjoy you’re new found freedom. I’m happy for you guys.”

Nines smiled from ear to ear, “Thank you, Lucky. You have a wonderful day!” He waved as he made his way towards the door. Gavin’s hand linked in his.

Gavin gave a small wave as he followed behind his lover. Once they were outside Gavin pulled the door shut behind them.

Nines looked at his boyfriend. Gavin wasn’t wearing his hat and he was missing his LED and he was looking up at Nines with eyes as wide as the full moon. Those eyes were so full of love it made the breath catch in Nines’ throat. It felt like there was a spell in the air and Nines didn’t dare speak as if doing so would break that spell.

Gavin had other ideas as he opened his mouth to speak, _“Nines?”_ The loving wonder in his eyes didn’t fade a bit as he spoke, “I just, _uh,”_ Gavin swallowed, “I wanted you to know that I...” He paused as he swallowed.

Nines was still under the spell as he stared into the depths of Gavin’s misty green eyes, _“Yes?”_ He whispered, his voice was a little rough.

_“I love you,”_ Gavin breathed.

Nines felt like his heart was going to explode, but the words rang so true he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, “I love you too,” Nines said quietly, his voice shaking.

Then their lips met, and they slowly danced together to the music of their confession. The feeling was so sweet, Nines couldn’t hold back the tears that slipped down his cheeks. His love was so overflowing that he had to let some of it out. Nines reached to hold Gavin’s face in his hands and noticed that he was crying too.

It was truly the beginning of their story. Now, they had each other and the world was going to have to wait, because they had made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But like Have you guys read the side stories yet? If you have, I'm only a little sorry.
> 
> If not go check them out but Mind The Tags!


	25. Simple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Epilogue. A month later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, my guys. This is it for In Between. Finished. Complete. Done.  
> Holy fuck. This has been a fantastic ride and I've loved every second of this journey. Thanks for being there with me, you guys. <3
> 
> Prepare for musical whiplash.  
> Chapter Title Song:[Simple | Florida Georgia Line](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuTDc9d_9yI)  
> Work Title Song: [In Between | Beartooth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWCXZufIFYE)
> 
> Oh, yeah and uh, there's some insensitive language about immigration in this chapter. So, be safe. But like Mike should have a warning all on his own.

_“What’s this?”_ Carol looked down suspiciously at the folder Nines was holding out to her.

“Take it and find out,” Nines said with a smile.

Carol rolled her eyes and snatched the folder from Nines with a small frown, “Whatever. Why is this folder so stuffy looking?” She mused aloud as she finally got around to opening it. Then as she started to read the document her eyes widened impossibly wide, “Nines, _oh my god._ You’re serious?”

Nines nodded, _“Dead.”_

Carol let out a laughed as she pulled him down into a hug, _“I am so fucking proud of you!”_

Nines returned the hug, “Thanks, Carol.”

Carol was still smiling as she looked at the papers again, and started to read them aloud, “Congratulations, Richard. You’re in! You have been admitted to the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and Fine Arts for Fall 2035,” Carol paused as she beamed at him, _“Holy shit!_ What are you going for?”

“Psychology. I’m going to get my bachelors,” Nines explained sheepishly, “I need you to look at the other paper before you get too much more excited.”

Carol frowned and raised an eyebrow, but she turned the paper to reveal the other letter in the folder. Her mouth fell open and she looked at him in horror, _“You’re leaving me?”_

Nines looked away and scratched the back of his neck, “Yeah, I’m going to go back full time and I need to focus on getting my boyfriend through the system. And honestly, I just need a break from all this for a little while.”

_“Nines,”_ Carol whined, “I have so many dfferent emotions about this. I want to be super happy for you because I know you’ve talked about going back to school for a while, but I’m also _super pissed_ you’re leaving me.”

Nines chuckled, “All of those feelings are completely valid. I’m sad to go too, but I’m making this decision for me and my future. And I fully believe it is the right one.”

Carol let out a long-suffering sigh, _“I know.”_ She paused, “You’re going to be great at whatever you do.”

“Thank you, Carol,” Nines paused, “I’ve really enjoyed working with you over the years and I hope we can continue to be friends even after I make my leave.”

Carol let out a tearful laugh, “Of course, you asshole,” Carol wiped vigorously at her eyes, “I still have to meet your troublemaking Russian boyfriend.”

“That you do,” Nines smiled, “Speaking of which, he has a meeting today at USCIS Field Office today.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Carol rolled her eyes, “Good luck with that!”

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Nines said. Then he pulled her into a goodbye hug. She hugged him back. They stayed like for a few moments before they separated.

“Get out of here,” Carol joked, her voice still a little thick with emotion.

With one more smile, Nines was on his way out.

Nines made it to just a couple of feet away from the exit door before he was stopped by none other than Dr. Mike Logan. Nines had to suppress a groan.

Mike’s eyes were wide, “Did I overhear that correctly? _You’re resigning?”_

Nines smiled, “Yeah, I am. I’ll be here all the way through July before my official last day. I’m starting school in August.”

Mike shook his head, “I heard that too. What’s the reason for getting the degree?”

Nines shrugged, “I’m just a bit tired of being here all the time. I don’t have time for a life outside of these walls,” he made a sweeping gesture with his right arm, “I’m thinking of becoming a social worker or a pediatrician. Something with way less blood.”

Mike didn’t look convinced, “are you sure you’re making this decision for _you?”_

Nines felt his eyebrows rise, “What is _that_ supposed to mean?”

“You do really good work here and your leaving seems kind of rash,” Mike sighed, “and of _all_ the people for you to quit over. Come on, an _illegal?”_ he laughed a bit as he looked towards the door and looked back at Nines with what could only be described as a nasty smile, “I mean the only thing worse than that would be you telling me you were quitting for an android.”

Nines felt his hands clench into fists. He had to use every ounce of his self-control to not deck the man in the face. He took a menacing step forward and leaned down to get into Mike’s face, _“Listen here, Dr. Logan,”_ Mike looked rightfully terrified, “My partner is a fantastic person and I love him more than anything. With that being said, his citizenship status is of no importance to me. Which, by the way, is not illegal. He’s working extremely hard for the life we are trying to build together. People like you are one of the biggest roadblocks to that happiness,” Nines sneered, “The world has no room for your bigotry and has outgrown people like you. So, frankly fuck off and never speak ill of Gavin again.”

Mike sputtered as he took a step backward. He was lost for words as his mouth flapped uselessly.

Nines didn’t have time for this as he shoved his way past the surgeon and back into the world outside of the hospital.

Nines fumed a little bit as he walked out to his car. Fuck, he hated that bastard.

Gavin was still waiting in the passenger’s seat, listening to his music.

Nines climbed into the driver side.

Gavin turned the music down, and looked over to Nines with a bright smile, “How’d she take it?”

Nines felt his anger dispel as he looked at his smiling boyfriend. He knew he would overturn the whole world to keep seeing that smiling face. He turned the car engine on before he answered, “She took it pretty well. Happy about the school, mad about me leaving. What I expected.”

“That’s good,” Gavin mused, “So, now we’re headed to visit the immigration office?”

Nines nodded his head as he threw the car into reverse, “Yeah, we are.”

Gavin groaned, “This is not going to go well, Nines.”

Nines frowned and then gently put a reassuring hand on Gavin’s thigh, “Yes, it will. We’ve got each other and between the two of us. The world doesn’t stand a chance.”

Gavin smiled lightly, “We’ve gotten this far.”

“Yeah, and we’ll make it the rest of the way,” Nines smiled. He’d never been more certain of anything in his life.

“Now remember, ты русский,” Nines chuckled, knowing he was showing off a tad bit, “So, what was the last named you picked out? Since being an Anderson is such a pain.”

Gavin smiled, “Well, there are too many of you phckers. Plus, the name I have picked out goes well with your stupid name, _Richard.”_

Nines snickered, “Let’s hear it.”

Gavin smirked and pointed his thumb at his chest, “я Гэвин Рид.”

Nines smiled, “Reed? I like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it for now. BUT!!! There are still 2 more mini-stories in the making and the Hankcon story that takes place in the Canon Android Revolution. Go ahead and drop the series (or me) a subscribe to have those updates end up in your inbox! Love you guys, see you on the flip side. <3
> 
> Also [Puppet8](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/) posted another fantastic fansrt for me [The kiss scene from Chapter 17](https://puppet8.tumblr.com/post/183328155824/my-final-gift-to-stujet9-for-their)! Check it out it's amazing!!!
> 
> Personal ramble below. (mentions of non-graphic suicide contemplation)  
> So, like I started this story way back last September. Yeah, September. And before that, I'd actually been working on the reverse au hankcon story since July/August. And I was having a rough patch and I was in a really bad place that fateful day in September. And i wanted to write to keep myself grounded and from just taking a dive off the local marina, but like I was at the Russian Roulette scene in the hankcon story and that was too much at the time. Then I went to this exchange:
> 
> "Hank picked up another photo, he didn't need to scan it to know that it was Connor's younger brother Richard. But Hank scanned it anyway. 
> 
> Richard "Nines" Reed. Born 11/11/2009. Criminal record: Pretty Theft, Trespassing
> 
> The name came up differently in his database this time. Hank frowned, the only reason he could come up with for such a change was marriage. Plus, Nines was a man? Hank shook his head, it looked like neither of the Anderson boys were straight. 
> 
> Hank then turned his attention to the other man in the photo. Maybe that was where all his answers lay. Hank guessed it was Richard's ‘husband.’ But what his scan results told him almost made him drop the picture.
> 
> Model GV200 #872 124 814 - 32 - Reported missing from Detroit Police - 5/27/2035."
> 
> And I was like fuck it and opened a new word document and started to work on the much happier Reed900 side story later to be known as "In Between" So, long story short starting this story kept me from attempting suicide and finishing it makes me feel powerful. This is the first major work I actually completed and it really did change my life.  
> So, my dudes if it ever feels like it's too much remember things worth doing regardless of how hopeless things seem. Stay awesome and stay here. <3


End file.
